The Lord, HE is my Shepherd.

Psalm 23 along with 1 Corinthians 13 is probably one of the most well know scripture in the bible known by non-Christians, and probably one of the least used scriptures by Christians in spiritual warfare.

A while ago I was asking God what He wanted me to speak on at our Fellowship and He gave me Psalm 23. As I’d spoken on that Psalm before I thought this was from me and did nothing else with it at that time.
About a week later I was in a prayer meeting with three other people and as one of them was praying the Lord challenged me to speak out loud Psalm 23 three times when I got up in the morning for the next week, I then shared this with the others and challenged them to do the same thing.
As I started to do this, I began to realise that this Psalm was one of the most powerful scriptures Christians could use in spiritual warfare, and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to proclaim it, and the more I proclaimed it the more I believed what I was proclaiming. I mean think about it, Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Great I AM, the Saviour of the world, Messiah, The Lamb of God, Jesus etc, etc. He is my Shepherd. WOW!
The Lord then showed me that the reason this is one of the most powerful scriptures Christians can use in spiritual warfare is because every verse has the names of the LORD (YAHWEH), so as you speak this out you are proclaiming to the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms the Names of God.
                                                    zazzle.com
Here is what I mean:

Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my Shepheard (Yahweh Roi – The Lord is my Shepherd)
I shall not want (Yahweh Jireh – The Lord will Provide)
2 He makes me lie down in Green Pastures (Yahweh Shalom – The Lord is Peace)
3 He restores my soul (Yahweh Rapha – The Lord that Heals) 
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Names sake (Yahweh Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Yahweh Shammah – The Lord is There)
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Yahweh Macadesh – The Lord who Sanctifies)
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Yahweh Nissi – The Lord is our Banner)(The Banner over us is Love).
kigifts.com.au
Psalm 23 along with 1 Corinthians 13 is probably one of the most well know scripture in the bible known by non-Christians, and probably one of the least used scriptures by Christians in spiritual warfare. It’s also been one of the most popular scriptures read and songs sung at a lot of people’s 
funerals. Why you may ask? Well I believe God has allowed it to be, because of the power in its words, but as the world and particularly the UK becomes more and more secular, I also believe it will become less and less popular in non-Christian funerals, for the same reason I’ve given for it becoming popular.
I’d like to challenge you to do the same challenge God gave me, and that is to speak out loud three times every morning the 23rd Psalm for at least one week. My week was finished a while ago and I’m still doing it.
Remember: ‘our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’. (Ephesians 6:10-12) So start proclaiming the Word of God into the atmosphere, and send the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms running as far away from you as possible.
Psalm 23 reminds me that I’m a child of God Most High (El Elyon), and He is my Father, my Lord, my King and my Shepherd.

Be blessed.

Author: Kevin Hunt

God never leaves us or forsakes us

It is important to hold on to the hope, faith, belief that God is right there by our side every step of the way and whether it takes days, months or even years God will reveal wonderful and amazing miracles and blessings in our lives.

God never leaves us or forsakes us, even when we go through times where we feel all alone, God is there we just need to reach out and take hold of Him, rest in His peace and love for us.

God does all things for our good and looks out for us 'Romans 8:28 
'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.'

Last year I went through a very hard and dark place. At the beginning of the year we got the news that my mom was poorly which came completely out of the blue and threw me. For the next 9 months the doctors spent time messing her about and not taking into consideration her feelings and desires for treatment. During that time I became increasingly angry and distressed, I wanted to shake and scream at these, so called health professionals. I felt so helpless and completely fed up and as a result I slipped into a depression that I couldn't shake for about 4 months and felt as though I would never feel normal again, let alone joyful.

To make matters worse, our only friend where we live found out she had cancer again. In her case the doctors acted quickly and she had treatment and was recovering in no time. With my mom having surgery as well it finally felt like there was some hope after all.

Within a matter of weeks my friend told me that she was feeling poorly and eventually was rushed into hospital for emergency surgery, she started to recover, but then took a turn for the worse at which point the doctors felt there was not much more they could do and within a matter of days she was gone.

The one comfort in all of this was how at peace she was, she felt ready to be with the Lord and was even excited to have the opportunity to be with the Lord if it was her time, praise God for her faithfulness and love of God.

As we came into this year I felt a cloud still lingering over us and asked my husband if this year would be more of the same - difficult and miserable.
Moments later we came to discover that I was pregnant, something the doctors told me 5-6 years earlier would likely never happen for us naturally. The only thing that had gotten me through that time of grief was the true belief that God knew the bigger picture of my life and if parenthood wasn't the plan for our lives then that was the best way, how it was supposed to be! And if not, nothing could stop God from making it happen, like He showed us many times in His word. In fact, when I found out I happened to be reading the following

'Genesis 18, 10-14 Then one of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?"
Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son."'

I have to be honest I felt the same, is this real? I'm too old! But praise and thanks to God who blessed us with this miracle.

Sometimes we don't know why things happen in our lives the way they do and sometimes we have to go through hard and painful experiences. It is important to hold on to the hope, faith, belief that God is right there by our side every step of the way and whether it takes days, months or even years God will reveal wonderful and amazing miracles and blessings in our lives. Sometimes when we least expect it and sometimes at the end of some of our most difficult journeys to refresh our hearts and give us a renewed sense of hope.

Author: Rebekah Cronk

Reckless love - Cory Asbury (official lyric video)

Communion

Jesus’ resurrection was a time of triumph, of victory, of joy, worship and celebration. It was a demonstration of the hope that all Christians have of conquering death, of becoming imperishable, of rising to glory.

"This do in remembrance of me." With these words ringing in our ears, we regularly celebrate communion. As we drink the cup and eat the bread, we reflect on Christ's sacrifice and look forward to his return.
Corpus Christi. timeanddate.com

Yet communion is more than a memorial. Our continued participation in this powerfully symbolic ceremony moulds our thinking and brings to life deeply spiritual truths in very concrete ways. It shapes our identity as a people of God and provides the truly blessed assurance that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The "message" of communion is important and deserves our full attention

Communion is not an individualistic matter; it is a body matter. We commune as a body; we come to the Lord's table as a family. This truth is bound up in the biblical symbol of the one loaf and the one cup. "Because there is one loaf," Paul writes, "we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17, NIV).


Communion:

Remembrance

Luke 22:19 ‘And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’

What is Remembrance?

We look backward to the cross
We look outward to the lost – Partaking in Communion is preaching by example
We look forward to eternity
We look inward to ourselves
We look upward to the Glory of Christ

https://www.simplybible.com/f432-remem-do-this-in-remembrance-of-me.htm

Reflection

God hates thoughtless religion. In Amos chapter 5 in verses 20-24 He says "I hate, I despise your religious feasts...away with the noise of your songs!" God is always looking to see who’s really worshipping. In Act 17:10-11 it says that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians. God makes a distinction of worship. Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable to God, Cain’s was not. Worship is when the invisible part of man meets with God. In 1 Corinthians 11: 28 and in 2 Corinthians 13:5 it says that we should examine ourselves. Before you take the Lord’s supper, here are two areas you can examine.

Reconciliation

Is our opportunity to prepare ourselves to receive communion. To examine ourselves and to confess our sins to God, to repent and to ask God for forgiveness.  We need to make sure that we are a clean and spotless because God is a Holy God and He expects and deserves nothing less.  We are warned about the consequences of taking communion in an unworthy manner…… 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 ‘So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgement on themselves’

Reconciliation involves a change in the relationship between God and man or man and man. It assumes there has been a breakdown in the relationship, but now there has been a change from a state of enmity and fragmentation to one of harmony and fellowship. In Romans 5:6-11, Paul says that before reconciliation we were powerless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies; we were under God's wrath (v. 9). Because of change or reconciliation we become new creatures. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ).

Renewal

When we take this cup each week, we — the church — are the bride of Christ. And we as the bride in waiting are renewing our vows with the soon coming Bridegroom. Jesus is among us, you know. And he’s kept his end of the covenant. He’s paid the ultimate price. We now renew our commitment, our covenant, to be true to Jesus, to be faithful, to honour him, to serve him, and to love him

Rejoice

In one of Paul’s most emphatic statements, he declared, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, everything else is a waste of words. If he is not alive right now, Christianity is a hopeless fraud. But the good news is that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead—as our Savior, and as the promise that we will also rise from the dead.

The doctrine of the resurrection is an essential of the faith. All of Christianity depends on the truth of this doctrine. But it is more than a doctrine—it is wonderful good news, news that should fill us with joy, hope, confidence, excitement and celebration!

Jesus’ resurrection was a time of triumph, of victory, of joy, worship and celebration. It was a demonstration of the hope that all Christians have of conquering death, of becoming imperishable, of rising to glory. It expresses faith, hope and joy. It is no surprise that Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.












Author: Anonymous

May God bless and enrich your life     
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Some Food For Thought

Do you know that your suffering might have a great purpose for the sake of mankind and for the sake of God's glory?  What a privilege that would be to suffer for the sake of God. Give your suffering to God and see what happens.

Have you ever gone to buy something and before you do had look to see if it's what you want, and then gone to the frequently asked questions? Well below are a number of thoughts on five topics (frequently asked questions) by David Leatherman taken from his book 'Biblical Insights and Special Thoughts'.

THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
AND HIS PRAYERS
    The passion of Jesus Christ can be easily summed up as follows:  Jesus' passion is that He came to reveal the nature of His Holy Father.  The question is this:  How did this passion manifest itself towards all of His creation, and specifically towards man?
     What was, and what are the aspects of the passion of Christ?  To understand the aspects of His passion, I must first define passion.  Passion is that property, emotion and zeal that is the very core of the driving force that defines and describes who we are, what we represent and what represents the calling of our creation.
    If we are called to be like Jesus, then we must know His passion.  If we know His passions, then we can know what our passions are supposed to be.  These passions showed up in the prayers of Jesus.  Knowing the prayers of Jesus allows us to peek at the very heart of Jesus.  Prayer was the most intimate relationship Jesus had with His Father.  Our prayers should be the same.

SUFFERING - WHY?
        Maybe your suffering is for the sake of God.  You know Joseph's story of suffering for the sake of God's purpose.  It seems as though God accomplishes great life-altering events through the suffering of His chosen people.  Jesus is the prime example.  He suffered for or sin.  With that said, I am reminded of an event that probably caused the greatest growth in the spreading of God's Word, and it involved suffering.  It was the event of Stephen's death by stoning (Acts 7 and 8).  When Stephen reminded the Jews of their sin and hypocrisy, they stoned Stephen at the gate of Jerusalem.  The Pharisees did not want to be reminded of their sin and hypocrisy, so they stoned Stephen to death.  This was a significant event and what made it more significant was that Paul was there and gave approval for the stoning death of Stephen.

      The suffering and death of Stephen caused the church at Jerusalem to scatter.  When the church members scattered, they formed many other churches.  When they scattered, the cause of Jesus Christ grew greatly.  After Stephen's death, Paul was on his way to Damascus.  Jesus confronted Paul on that road.  Jesus renamed Saul to the name of Paul.  The rest of the event is well known.  God worked through Paul to write two-thirds of the New Testament.  Paul was also tortured and suffered greatly for the cause of Jesus.  Paul began to rejoice in his suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ. Here is the point:  If Stephen had not suffered and died for the sake of righteousness, where would we be today?  What Stephen did through suffering set the course for the future of all mankind.  Do you know that your suffering might have a great purpose for the sake of mankind and for the sake of God's glory?  What a privilege that would be to suffer for the sake of God. Give your suffering to God and see what happens.

EVOLUTION VS CREATION
        Evolution/Creation - a television editorial which dispelled the validity of creation and promoted the concept of evolution ignited my thought process.
        The fundamental driving force of evolution is survival - survival of the fittest.  If we are a product of evolution, then the essence of our existence would be centred around the rudimentary function of survival.  The essence of our existence would be to survive, even to the exclusion or extinction of all other elements of life, even animal life, or human life, which includes family members.  These characteristics are demonstrated in the animal wildlife kingdom.  Some animals will eat their own if they have to.  Pure evolution does not have to provide for self denial or self destruction, but, rather, for self absorption and survival.  
        With this in mind, an interesting question emerges:  If we are a function of evolution, where do self denial, compassion, faith, trust, and commitment even to death come from?  The answer to this question is obvious.  Evolution does not answer the dynamics of this question; only creation can answer this question.
        At our creation, God put within us the capacity for love. compassion, faith, trust, self denial and commitment, even to death.  By virtue of our creation, all of us have the potential for these God-given traits.  The energy source that dynamically empowers these traits is "God Within Us", through the Holy Spirit.  It is only when we accept a new life through Jesus Christ, and repentance for our former life, can we truly commit to something greater than our self.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Scripture added).

  HELL
        Hell - a real physical place, not a state of mind, a real place known as the unseen underworld.  It is a real place where the body cannot and will not die, even though there is extreme torture.  The torture is described in scripture as pain that causes gnashing of teeth and a relentless fire and heat and a place where worms eternally eat the flesh.  Remember:  This is an eternity of torment.
 Jesus spoke clearly about hell.  While Jesus was clear about hell and the consequences, many theologians try to minimize hell and its consequences.  Jesus preached about hell as much, or more than, any other subject.  The New Testament gives over 60 references to hell, and the word "hell" appears 23 times.  The word "hell" appears 31 times in the Old Testament.

 God is a sinless God and lives in a place where sin cannot exist.  In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve and they were sinless and lived in a sinless place called Eden.  When Adam and Eve sinned, they became dirty, so God threw them out of His presence.  At some point, God made a provision for man to cleanse himself of sin so that man could once again be in the presence of God.  That provision was the blood of a perfect being, Jesus Christ.  He gave His blood so that man would not have to go to hell, but, rather, stand in the presence of our Holy God.  That is the reason we need to know that hell is real.  Jesus gave His life and blood so we would not have to go to hell, but rather go to heaven.

Do you believe heaven exists?  Do you believe hell exists?  If you really, really believe there is a heaven and a hell, how could you ever take a chance of going to hell when it is sure you can go to heaven?  God provided a way into heaven.  

DIRECT MY THOUGHTS
        If you are asking God to direct your path, you must be moving.  If you are not moving, how can God change your direction?  A person who is not moving has no direction, and, therefore, does not have a basis for change to start a new direction.  Keep moving toward what you know as God's righteousness and will for you, and He will move you, direct your path and charter your course to fulfil the calling of your creation.  Only then will you find total joy, peace and contentment.  This is how, I believe, the martyrs were able to willingly give their lives for the Namesake of our Lord Jesus.  The following scripture is a good example of the importance of moving so that God can direct your path:
                                            -- Isaiah 30:21 - "Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'."

You may or may not agree with what was said above by David, but whatever your standpoint I hope it's given you food for thought.

Blessings.

All the above are taken from the book "Biblical Insights and Special Thoughts: Authored by David L. Leatherman

A Tree and its fruits

The standards that determine eternal judgement are not a person’s standards, not a church’s standard, not a preacher’s standard, but only God’s standards set forth in His Bible.

Matthew 7:15-23 ‘Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruits you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

In the course of my college education, I ran across an inscription posted at the top of the college library entrance that read, ‘Read not to believe or take for granted, nor to refute or contradict, but to weigh and consider’.  That inscription has had a huge impact on my life.  I try to embrace that attitude when I read, listen and observe.  A similar attitude shows up in the book of Thessalonians.  A directive was issued to the Christians in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians when he admonishes them to test all things to the scriptures so that you will not be led astray.

Again, Matthew 7:15 says ‘Watch out for false prophets.  They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.’  Verse 16 says, ‘By their fruits you will recognize them.’  Scripture says that the wolves will come in sheep’s clothing.  The wolves can be ever so clever.  They will wear the sheep’s clothing of doing good deeds and intentions for the cause of something good or for the cause of Christ, but beneath it all, their true intentions or desires are to do something that will serve their own best interests.  And that is the deal killer for Jesus.  The false prophet can wear the cloak of religiosity and represent itself in the form of a person, preacher, teacher, church, missionary, evangelist, and many other ways.  Here is the rule that will test a false prophet in my 
judgement.  If a person or entity is acting on behalf of God and only God’s standards of righteousness and serves to glorify God, then he/she is a true prophet for the purpose of God.  If, on the other hand, he/she has any self-serving motive, like pride, prestige, power or possessions, then he/she becomes a false prophet that dilutes God’s purpose and leads many astray.  The scripture says cursed are those who lead one astray.

Matthew 7:16 says, ‘By the fruits you will recognize them’.  All fruit comes from a nourishing source like a tree, vine, etc.  Matthew 7:17-18 tells us that good fruit comes from good nourishment (like God’s truth), but bad fruit comes from deception, which is anything other than God’s truth.  Bad fruit leads to bad things. Matthew 7:19 says, ‘Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’.  Jesus is telling us to get out into the world and bear good fruit, fruit that will truly represent His plan and purpose.  If the tree does not get out into the world and does not bear good fruit, it will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 7:21-23 says ‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?  Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers’.  These scriptures are self-evident.  If you were a false prophet and stood before Jesus He would say, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me you evildoer’.  Jesus is the only way into heaven.  Not knowing Jesus is the only way into hell which is eternal damnation of suffering and pain.

Remember, the standards that determine eternal judgment are not a person’s standards, not a church’s standard, not a preacher’s standard, but only God’s standards set forth in His Bible. We are responsible for our own choices.

Author: David Leatherman 

May God bless and enrich your life

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