Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us a fortress and a high tower. Psalm 62:8
Please read all of Psalm 62 before you go on this morning to soften your heart as we go……
Purity in the heart produces power in the life.
We pray that you have been well and are having a blessed Christmas season.
We are all set, Lord willing, to begin our 15th year here at Dewey’s Daily CUP! PRAISE GOD! We thank you for your prayers and love! We are set to begin our first full year at FGGAM! www.fggam.org The out pouring of your love this Christmas season has been so AWESOME! We heard from so many of you! Many of you made a love offering to us for Christmas, we are so thankful for your ongoing support, which is so important in going forth. You all brought tears to Sharon and I, the faith and trust you have placed in this Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and the mission He has given us. For God’s Glory Alone!!!!
Sharon and I are so blessed to live in a wonderful Christian neighborhood!!!!!! We are especially thankful for Tom and Joan, and Oscar and Veronica! We are so blessed to have their love!
Yes, a Christian neighborhood and my prayer is that we all have a Revival for our Lord Jesus Christ in our homes but it spreads to our neighborhoods! Christian neighborhoods! This is how revival for our Lord starts!!! AMEN!
Do you know your neighbors?
Pardon me for taking three days off…..but It was very AWESOME to spend with family and friends!
Let us celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas everyday of the year!
Got this inspiring note from Roy, he has read the CUP for years and now he and LeeAnn have reached this point in their journey………..read on………
A very MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and family. Thank you for the cup. A week ago Sunday the wife and I were both saved. Being Baptized is next. Praise the Lord.
Roy & LeeAnn
PRAISE GOD! PRAISE GOD!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!
Former President George H.W. Bush is in guarded condition as he fights a fever in ICU at a Houston hospital. A spokesman for Bush says the former President was moved into the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday and is on an all-liquid diet. The 88-year old Bush has been hospitalized since November with a bronchitis-type of cough. Bush’s fever has been worse over the past few days.
Let us spray for Former President H.W. Bush……
Over the last couple of weeks much sickness and death and loss of work has come to people we love very much. When I preached at the First baptist Church in Quemado, NM this past Sunday I shared about the loss of little 5 year old Lenya Lusko Chip Lusko’s granddaughter, the loss of former Minnesota Twin and Christian Broadcaster Frank Pastore. In the last week we have received news of our beloved Karen Rowe being diagnosed with breast cancer and also our Dear friend Jolene. Our Dear friend Dave lost his job. This does not count all the hurting people we are helping here at FGGAM. We have two young people that we are praying for right now Gina and Luke. Gina left her children and went to Texas with a man and left behind her two little boys. She is suffering from Bi-polar. Luke has kicked everyone out of his life and ran away to Arizona. The heart break in these families is enormous. I have to add that in these two families of Gina and Luke are shining the light of our Lord brighter than ever! Our faith either weakens during these times or strengthens. The following three write up’s helped me and Sharon strengthen our faith and gave us encouragement………….These three write up’s are by Greg Laurie, Michael Gerson and Karen Rowe, We pray they will strengthen you and yours, this is what The CUP is all about, bringing the Body of Jesus Christ together for prayer and encouragement. I especially thank my Dear Sister in Christ, Karen Rowe for sharing as this strong women of God is such a strong testimony of faith to all of us……..Just one final note here..this is a, as Pastor Leonard says from time to time to me, A CUP worth Preaching on! I believe Pastor’s and Church leaders will take the following to Preach from it and many of you will share this CUP!
For God’s Glory Alone!!!!!!!!
Dealing with Sadness during the Holidays.
December 21st, Greg Laurie.
Last night,my friends Levi and Jennie Lusko said goodbye to their little girl Lenya for the last time on earth.
This sweet little one had a server asthma attack and died in her parents arms.
It’s so very,very sad.
Please pray for the Lusko family as they face what I believe for a parent is a fate worse then death. .
The loss of a child.
This last Monday,I also saw my friend,Frank Pastore,host of the Frank Pastore show die after having spent a month in a coma after a motorcycle accident.
Please be in prayer for Frank’s wife,Gina and his two children as well.
I understand the pain of these families as I too had a son named Christopher die four years ago.
I will be at both their memorial services and will miss them both with all of my heart.
What makes this even harder,is this happened in the Christmas season.
It seems in many ways,as a nation we have been collectively mourning in the wake of the shootings of 20 children at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.
Perhaps you are personally mourning the loss of a loved one right now.
When a loved one leaves this world for the next, we are torn apart inside. So we cry and mourn.
A deep sense of loss and sorrow is an indication of deep love.
The apostle Paul spoke of deep sorrow over the possible loss of a friend:
“Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, a
faithful worker, and a courageous soldier. . . and he was very distressed that you heard
he was ill. And he surely was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and
also on me, so that I would not have such unbearable sorrow.” Philippians 2:25
Paul is saying, “If Epaphroditus had died, I would not have been able to bear it!” That’s how you feel
when someone you love dies: you can’t bear it.
So don’t impatiently say to the mourner, “Don’t cry” or “You’ll get over it!” There is a place for this
process of mourning, and it must happen. The Bible says, “There is a time to mourn.” If you don’t mourn
properly, you will not heal properly. I did not fully understand this principle until it happened to me.
But for the mourners out there, I would say, let’s keep a proper perspective,
like the psalmist in Psalm 42:3–6:
“Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me,
saying, ‘Where is this God of yours?’ My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to
be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house
of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why
am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him
again—my Savior and my God!”
The psalmist is honest here. He speaks of how he has had “only tears for food.” I know exactly what he
is talking about. But then he asks himself a question and gives himself an answer:
“Why am I discouraged? Why so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!”
Grief is like wiping out on a wave. When you are out surfing, and get caught in a set, and go over the
falls, you lose perspective. The thing you must avoid is panic.
You have to roll with it and remember that it won’t last all that long. But sometimes, when you’re in the
whitewater, you lose your perspective. You literally do not know which way is up, or how to get to the
surface. This is where your leash comes in.
Your leash is attached to your board, which always goes to the surface due to its buoyancy. So, you grab
your leash and follow it to the surface. The Scripture is like that leash; it gets us “above the surface,”
where we can get a heavenly perspective.
Sometimes, I get my head above water and everything is clear. Everything, in a way, almost makes sense
for a few moments. I will think, “The Lord is leading me in His perfect plan. I have a son on earth and
another son in heaven. I will see him again.” But then the waves of pain and grief and sadness come and
I go under again.
I will surface and sink again many times in one day—again, again, and again. That is mourning. But we
still have hope.
The Believers in Thessalonica were wondering if they would ever see their loved ones again who had died as Christians.Paul wrote these comforting words “And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with Him the believers who have died . . . Then we will be with the Lord forever”
(1 Thessalonians 4:13–17).
So,yes we as Christians mourn.
We mourn deeply.
But we have hope of seeing our loved ones who have preceded us to Heaven again.
It will be a wonderful Heavenly reunion.
Both little Lenya and big Frank are spending their first Christmas in Heaven!
May God extend his comfort to their families all of you who are feeling deep sadness this Christmas season.
People ask me,”Is there a book that could help me at a time like this?”.
Listen. ..You don’t need a manual,you need Immanuel!
God is with you.
That is the message of Christmas!
By Michael Gerson, Published: December 24
This is a Christmas season shadowed by sorrow. We know, of course, that human beings, even small ones, sometimes die in horrible, unfair ways. But all the horror and unfairness seemed to arrive at once in Newtown, Conn., where some parents wake on Christmas Day, if they slept at all, to mourn their absent children.
These events brought to mind a sermon by William Sloane Coffin, delivered 10 days after his son Alex was killed in a car accident. “When parents die,” he said, “they take with them a large portion of the past. But when children die, they take away the future as well. That is what makes the valley of the shadow of death seem so incredibly dark and unending. In a prideful way, it would be easier to walk the valley alone, nobly, head high, instead of — as we must — marching as the latest recruit in the world’s army of the bereaved.”
This army is easy enough to join. All of us build imaginary worlds of security that can be smashed in a moment by a drunk driver, a cancer diagnosis or an unnoticed patch of ice on the road. The death of a child may be the worst of our fears. But many of us find tragedy of some sort, with a little patience. It is the sad reality of grief: each loss infinite but not unique. And each loss sharpened during the holidays. A dark thought in a season of light.
There are no easy philosophic or theological explanations for unnatural death — no greater, cosmic good that neatly justifies unfair suffering. And those who try to find God’s will in an earthquake, a cancer ward or a mass killing are engaged in a particularly cruel and arrogant exercise. Coffin would have none of it: “Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn’t go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fists around knives, his hands on steering wheels. . . . The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, ‘It is the will of God.’ Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s heart was the first of all our hearts to break.”
Death is not the expression of a just moral order but its violation. And the proper response is not explanation but friendship. “Immediately after such tragedy,” said Coffin, “people must come to your rescue, people who only want to hold your hand, not to quote anybody or even say anything, people who simply bring food and flowers — the basics of beauty and life — people who sign letters simply, ‘Your brokenhearted sister.’ ”
Grief is particularly difficult at Christmas, as the best memories can be the hardest ones. But the hope of Christmas is broad enough for joy and sorrow.
The strangeness and scandal of the season get easily lost in its familiar rituals. In Christian belief, the boundless, timeless God became, in J.B. Phillips’s phrase, one of those “crawling creatures of that floating ball.” From the beginning, many of the reasonable and pious found the whole idea to be nonsensical or blasphemous. But it is the central tenet of an enduring faith. Instead of setting out a philosophy to interpret the human drama, God joined it. He became “God with us” — a God with a face. In the process, he both shared and dignified ordinary human life, with all its delight, boredom and suffering. The Christmas story revels in this blasphemous elevation of the ordinary — a birth in second-rate accommodations under a cloud of illegitimacy.
The story is also shadowed by sorrow. In one of the odder moments of the narrative, a random stranger at the Jerusalem Temple predicts a mother’s grief. “A sword,” Simeon tells Mary, “shall pierce through your own soul also.” As it did. As it has for many mothers and fathers who have followed.
The point of Christmas is not a sentimental optimism about the human condition or even a teaching about the will of God. It is an assertion that God came to our rescue, and holds our hand, and becomes, at the worst moments, our brokenhearted brother. It is preposterous, unless it is true. And then it would be everything.
Now as we continue to drink this CUP and having just read the excellent write up by Michael Gerson, I want to share with you a write up from our beloved Karen Rowe who has been recently diagnosed with cancer………..
Christmas is not a season. By Karen Rowe
Christmas is not a season; Christ is the reason we have a Christmas-time!
I hope to share something that will glorify God and make a difference in the focus of your holiday traditions.
After Note: I struggled about whether to share this, but then I would be making the decision for you. Instead I put this in the good Lord’s hands and do my little part. This began with a recent revelation about a specific part of the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation” –I have always wondered why we are taught to pray to God and ask him not to lead us into temptation, because God does not lead us into temptation –God leads us to be blessed! God also teaches us that above all things we get to get understanding! The Holy Spirit brought understanding to me; and as always, just as I needed to know! When we pray, Father, Lead us not into Temptation, we are praying for spiritual discernment and God’s divine Wisdom to lead us away from temptations that will come to us! In ministry, I recently needed to learn this and a greater understanding come to me –and I was protected; I learned a valuable lesson!Also, with this Christmas message, I have recently been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and I wanted to share the joy of Christmas that is with me through this difficult time; and this is how it all flowed from my heart! Afterwards, I found this quote from the Daily Bread –it just seemed to perfectly fit. I hope this will be a blessing to you. Let us begin with The Daily Bread:
–From the Daily Bread Nov 16, 2012:
“Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible. Make each day your masterpiece. Pray for guidance, and give thanks for your blessings every day.”
“Jesus, in what we often call the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), taught us to approach our heavenly Father each day; it’s not something to be said once and forgotten. Through it we offer God praise (v.9); seek His kingdom and His will (v.10); trust His provision (v.11); and ask for His forgiveness, power, and deliverance (vv. 12-13).”
Let us pray The Lord’s Prayer–will you join me in saying the Lord’s Prayer –as I lead from the Scriptures and my heart as I listen and pray in detail. Matthew 6:9-13 King James Version (KJV)
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Hear our Honor and Praise, dear Father, which is to you –and is to your holy, powerful and wonderful Name!
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Your Kingdom has come –Jesus come near; and live in me and I in you. Father, Your Perfect, Honorable, Noble, Righteous and Trustworthy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven; and we trust you –we roll our works upon your Son, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ –for His Yoke is easy and His burden is light –as we commit and trust our works wholly to the work of the Holy Spirit –and then we know our thoughts will become agreeable to your will Father God! We confess that our mind will try to plan its own way, but we submit our will to yours Father –Lord direct our paths and keep them straight.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Give us this day, which Father God, you have called Today, our daily bread –the Gospel of Jesus Christ; Your living and written Word made perfect through Jesus Christ, Your Son –and our Savior and Lord.
12 And forgive us our debts, …
By our knowledge of your Perfect Will, bring to our mind our knowledge of our debts / trespasses that have led us away from your Kingdom. Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit show me any err of my ways that may have lead me away from your Perfect path in step with the Holy Spirit, so that I can walk strong with you in the Kingdom of Righteousness –which is possible and is the only path made in absolute and complete truth, by the blood of Jesus Christ –your Son! Thank you dear Lord Jesus!!!
… as we forgive our debtors.
NOTE: you can skip the next couple of pages and continue praying the Lord’s Prayer of “deliver us from evil” … if you have no issues with patience with people or patient endurance through situations.
I personally take my time to walk through my heart with God’s eyes. If my heart comes out clean then great, but if it comes out purified in Jesus then wow, I stand in awe of God for bringing to my attention my blindness, so I can see the truth in my heart and be set free by God’s grace alone!
I share because I care…not to put down, but rather to stand tall together as we together search our hearts with God, according to be lead in the Lord’s Prayer. God’s truth is this powerful!
My life motto is: I don’t have it all figured out, BUT God does…Follow Jesus” & I wish I could apologize for the length, but instead I don’t take credit, so I can’t apologize either. Blessings as you Lord willing continue to read and pray in the Spirit of God.
12 And forgive us our debt, as we forgive our debtors.
Thank you Father for my complete forgiveness (atonement for my sins) and the absolute freedom in the Spirit of Truth! And as we know these things, still Father we know our weakness is our ignorance by nature (our lack of knowledge to know… until we know to do better), so we take this time to pray, but mostly listen for your voice to reveal our own heart to us, so we can change and experience Christmas joy year round.
- Now that we know our forgiveness Father, according to your Living and Written Word, we know we need to (first) ask for your help in forgiving others, our debtors –please bring to our mind those we (also) need to forgive –as we let go of that hold and give it all to you –like you have already made our way of forgiveness for us …
- We ask for Your Wisdom from heaven, which is first of all pure –thank you Holy Spirit for empowering and equipping us! There is a real love you pour into our hearts, which flows with power and freedom to overcome all things! Father you do not leave us double-minded like the wisdom from below will … we submit our will to your thoughts Father God!
- Help us and teach us so we can learn how to simply trust you Our Father God and follow your Son, as our friend Jesus!
Thank you Father for giving us also your Word! – As we also pray in the Spirit, it is good to read the Scriptures –Study/Reference Scriptures for Today: James 3:13-18, [wow and James
1] and also John 14:1; Proverbs 16:9-11! Thank you Father for your Word –The Bible truly is our instruction to help to us in all things!
Father, we confess it is hard sometimes; and we need your help. We can love like you –a love which clearly says to us – If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18-NIV) and we confess we know you say, Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone (NLT).”
Lord Jesus, help us not to judge people when they fall short of our expectations, because it affects me, others and my ability to pray for others. Judgment is Yours God! –Instead, we ask for discernment in our own behavior; and with our higher knowledge in our Father’s Knowledge, we can be patient with others and reflect patience through all situations.
Let nothing I do cast judgment on another head to hold them down or make them feel unworthy to come to you, as far as it depends on me. Lord, we desire to be obedient to the Holy Spirit in all ways –and to forgive those who have trespassed against us. Just as I have asked in your kind and patient love for your Kingdom’s Presence in my soul, spirit and household, I also pray for those who have offended me …
Lord show me if there are any bitter roots or motives in my heart of envy or selfish ambition –that I may hold that is keeping me against your Kingdom’s pureness –and by your power who lives in me, I will rise above!
Father we know that we are equipped for this kind of love and forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit, whom has come to us by the blood and life of Jesus Christ our LORD.
- We confess that we need to first know the agape (unconditional)love of our Father,
- and then also to show –kindness and patience (patient endurance), which is sacrificial love toward others (goodwill toward men)
- –As we remember Matthew 5:24 in which you teach the importance of a pure heart…
- and also reveal to us the need we have to be purified
- –as we pass through every test and trial
- –we can remember to do the right thing always …
The Word of God:
“leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” And Romans 14:19, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
A Smile in Jesus …
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes (Mark 9:23).”
“No temptationhas overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).”
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:5).”
Father help us to show this great love you have poured into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit –to those with a “lack of spiritual knowledge to know to do better”, “the spiritually sick”, “the weak in spirit”…humm, come to think of it, those who are just like me without you.
I have had to pray these words …
We don’t pray Father “pick me” –we know you love all you have made! Let us not do anything to complicate our reflection of your love for others; let us not make your love reflect as conditional!
What better time than Christmas time to celebrate forgiveness in JESUS CHRIST –the greatest gift of unconditional love sent by God, whom we are free to choose to live in grace with God every day and have freedom in this life with our gift of Peace (Jesus Christ) on earth as it is in Heaven!
Celebrating the Word of God whom has equipped us in all things!
Proverbs 16:9-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.
10 Divinely directed decisions are on the lips of the king; his mouth should not transgress in judgment.
11 A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights of the bag are His work [established on His eternal principles].
Father we confess and we know we have a human nature that can be tempted, but we choose to overcome:
We purposely put off Pride and self-righteousness that get in the way! In nature it is far easier to make excuses or justify our behavior, but we choose to confess that we need Jesus.
At times we sin and don’t even realize it, because we are ignorant with lack of knowledge to know to do better –or forgetful of the scriptures, or we have become callous; soften our heart to hear your voice speak to our heart to change because of Jesus-because we seek a relationship with you Father!
Thank you Jesus for teaching us to pray with knowledge! –Sin creates a barrier between us and God –and repentance and confession, play a critical role in overcoming temptation!
13 And lead us not into temptation,
- Thank you Father –for this is a Revelation from you, this part of the Lord’s Prayer is in effect asking for Wisdom and spiritual discernment!
Father God, Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, thank you –you do not lead us on an emotional path astray from your walking spiritual path –with your discernment we can keep in step with the Holy Spirit, which is straight and narrow and with good purpose always! With discernment and Wisdom we are not led into Temptation; we are lead through tests and trials to learn how to live in the Kingdom (in Jesus) and gain understanding of how much we need Jesus –a knowledge that brings strength that we need to know for a purpose we are called for!
Get Your Word from God then Refuse to move from it! Temptations will come to test you … “Did God really say…” and your emotions will answer, “yeah, because I’m not feeling much like ….” Well sure, God has spoken –all we have to do is seek HIS Word of Truth and Trust HIM!”
We pray, Lead us not into the temptation of our emotions
Temptations come to us by our emotions in the form of different spirits that will purposely appropriate emotional manipulations that can be effective against us –even seemingly innocent –However, we call it what it is, evil; and we can stay in Step with the Holy Spirit with a higher knowledge of remembering the gospel!
- Peter was not evil –but he did speak at least once from an emotional spirit and Jesus said, “Satan, get behind me!” Jesus recognized the Temptation to run in fear and the temptation to feel sorry for himself; and so must we!
- Father, Lead us not into temptation is Jesus is teaching us to pray for spiritual discernment and Wisdom to over-ride our emotional pull to react in the way we want to!
The word of God:
“Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Matthew 16:23
- Father, help us to resist the temptations that feed on our emotions of how we feel in the moment of situations –like Jesus did: Jesus was emotionally scared of the horror he faced, and he wanted to run! That temptation was right on, BUT Jesus knew we needed what only He could accomplish!
- We need to remember that Jesus died for everyone! We can trust God to follow in step with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit alone; and sometimes that means to be still (in patience) –knowing that God is God; and that everyone who will believe John 3:16 is God’s gift from Jesus. We are learning and growing at the same time, but at a different pace …by God’s leadership alone!
- We want to help, and feel emotional sorrow… but if God is not calling us to help (YET) then we are just prolonging another’s growth in Jesus and enabling Satan’s ties for a bit longer. (We do not make a difference alone…only God does the work that changes)…
- As an eagle stirs its nest to make it uncomfortable to get the baby birds to fly, so does God allow the stirring of our life to get us to fly and grow into full maturity in Jesus!
- As a baby Chicken must work to hatch so that it shall live, so must we all persevere to learn this great trust in God alone!
- We have things we could fear, but Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world!
- As an egg shell is created so strong that it amazingly cannot be crushed when squeezed end to end –so are we created that we have the strength of God from end to end in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit!
- Satan knew that God’s Son was wrapped in human skin –and that Jesus had a very real situation that he could fear –Satan also knew Jesus had a high position with purpose! Satan knows God’s love for you as well!
–BUT, all Satan could /can dois tempt emotions and create diversions!
But we can remember that Jesus walks on water and so can we walk with Jesus above our troubles!
- Jesus didn’t tell Satan he was hungry in the desert –hunger was obvious! After 40 days of no food or drink, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jesus was hungry! Satan knows your troubles too –But Jesus tells us “do not LET your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and Trust also in me (Jesus).” God knew Jesus was hungry too (and God cared), but our all-knowing WISE Father God through the Holy Spirit led Jesus in the desert to be tempted so that he could overcome and teach us how!
- When the truth was presented to Jesus, by Satan, Jesus didn’t have a conversation with the devil about being hungry –or about any of the real concerns he might have felt during his walk on this earth! Awe, instead, Jesus threw the Word of God back in Satan’s face –The truth…And so must we!
Temptation’s purpose has never changed, but temptation’s angles will adapt to your situation…
NOTICE the differentiation: Temptations vs. God’s Call on our life:
- God walks with us leading in peace and His righteousness has gone before us –we just follow in faith with the assurance of peace. We walk with God in step with the Holy Spirit!
- Evil scurries around us creating distractions, diversions and frustrations, which will be feeding real emotions leading us to jump in emotions to run out of the Spirit of God –with a purpose to get us to run away, run from or run too fast –from God’s purpose that HE has put in us –and into some form of destruction of God’s purpose …destruction that is demised as an evil plan with multiple incidentals of trickery purposely placed in front of us to get us there –However, we can stop and turn around and reconnect with peace!
- Purposely refuse to focus on the spirit of fear or the spirit of feeling sorry for someone / or for yourself to become worried and troubled in your thoughts that will consume your heart.
- Jesus resisted!
- Jesus has already overcome every temptation from the evil one …by the power in the Truth: The Word of God!
- Jesus spoke the truth and refused to sway to the right or the left from the truth!
Christmas is the celebration of the gift of knowledge as much as the gift of Salvation, which is also gifted to us through believing knowledge of John 3:16 & 17! Father “lead us not into Temptation” is a daily prayer so that we can live in this life Christ was born into, died for and rose again for complete victory over all things that come against God as long as God allows this day to be called Today. And Today, Jesus brings us peace and joy with purpose, promise and hope!
Friends in Christ are a Christmas gift too!
The Lord’s Prayer is to be prayed together. OUR Father who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name! We need God’s help to discern our emotions and we need friends in Christ to talk out real emotions …to get harmful emotions from growing bitterness on the inside of us –out of our heart to God: Confess –Honest communication with a good listening ear is good!
We can Resist Temptation–Resist Reacting in emotions and purposely Act with God! Emotions are a gift from God for us to control / not for them to control us! And …Acting with God is faith walking in step with the spirit of God to keep us in our purpose that is set by God:
Remember John 11 and the story of when Lazarus died? Jesus didn’t rush in human thoughts or emotions, but rather remained in step with HIS purpose to show up in God’s time for God’s glory alone!
The Purpose of Christmas is remembering Jesus! There are 2 kinds of wisdom that come to us; we need discernment to act with God! God is love | Remain in Love and we are remaining in Jesus –remain in Jesus and He will remain in you! LOVE IS an sacrificial action to remain in the Freedom of peace and Joy, but where you have bitter envy and selfish ambition there you will find confusion, disorder and every evil practice! Align up to LOVE (1 Co 13:4-8).
“The root of bitterness is hate; the symptom of bitterness is sarcasm; and the result of bitterness is manipulation –using people instead of loving them
–from the discovery series ‘Joseph –Overcoming Life’s Challenges’, by Bill Crowder.
If you are struggling this may be a good booklet for you to read.
Insight from the Daily Bread: “The lesson for us today is to be diligent in searching for our spiritual blind spots. The Christian life is one of self-scrutiny and midcourse correction by the power of God.”
A prayer within a prayer –because if we are struggling with forgiveness / agape love, then we know we need to stop in our love sacrifice to God in the Lord’s prayer (KNOWING: if we do all things good, but have not charity/love, then we are just a sounding gong to God’s ear)… we can pause; and allow the Holy Spirit to mend our heart before we continue on with the Lord’s Prayer:
Father, we desire to reveal you to others who may not know you, through the power of our peace and joy – in Jesus Christ our Lord! We desire to act in YOUR love and not react in emotions! We desire to act in faith and not react in fear! We desire to look beyond how anything affects me and instead look up to all Jesus has done for us all!
Father, thank you for Your Son, who also gave us this prayer that we can act according to YOUR Word of all that is authentic and genuine; the trueness of all that YOUR agape love is! Father we know that love is not weak, but power under control and with purpose (the power of humility)! Thank you Jesus, we are equipped by the power of the Holy Spirit, who does all the work!
We desire to walk with love –with YOU, with power and authority in your Kingdom to reflect Your tender love and great mercies –Father it does depend on us to remain in your peace, but it is You that does the great work in us and also in them! Thank you Father!
May we serve you well Today!
Now that our hearts are clear of bitterness, we continue to pray the prayer you taught us to say with such simplicity…
…but deliver us from evil:
So with our knowledge from God and our discernment from the Holy Spirit –we can continue to pray evil away:
Father, Lead us not into temptation to act on our own based on emotions, give us discernment of the spirits –one of which is the spirit “of feeling sorry for people” –there is a difference between compassion and emotional sorrow –which will derive from a selfish agenda –Father give us Your discernment of the spirits that come to us with a purpose to lead us to act against your will and away from your purpose and power to accomplish any good thing –even that our emotional heart may be full of good intentions, but we need our heart full of your Word to make a difference in this world!
Our own thoughts prolong and hinder, instead of helping…Ultimately, we do nothing –it is God doing the work through the power of the Holy Spirit –we just plant little seeds and water the plant! So emotions can lead us away from our purpose to glorify God.
Father, help us to remember to do our little part –Protect us/Deliver us from evil (lead us not into a place of busy-ness or a place of danger (Father, we ask for your discernment (Wisdom) in our faith walk).
Jesus resisted –and so must we! Jesus didn’t come to take our emotions from us, but rather to teach us how to control them “Self-Control is a fruit of the Spirit” –and use emotions for the good and produce the good fruit from the perfect tree.
(To evaluate if the good fruit is active or inactive in your life: Galatians 5:22-26).
What has caused you pain? When we lose those we love (or when those we love hurt us) and our life is turned upside down –loss of love causes us pain.
Could you be blaming God? To be blunt, How is blaming God working out for you? To be honest, rejecting love is reacting in emotions and is a release of pain, but if our words and motivations are impure, then the pain will not heal. Love heals / loss hurts, but love overcomes all things.
Recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and after seeing too much via media search on my treatment, fear set in for a moment and very real thoughts would pop up in my mind from time to time –my pain release was to shout out “dang it!” –but I found that in saying curse words I was cursing my peace away and thus my strength and courage; not to mention my condition. I prayed to God for a new word to release pain and fears, but a word that would equal in power, but would bless instead of curse my situation in which I have a great need for God in! The Holy Spirit gave me my new words: “Trust God!”
YES, I shout out “Trust God” instead of “dang it” and find a great power over my fears and great strength and courage with wonderful peace and joy in my situation, by just changing my complaint to a prayer of praise – just 2 little words made all the difference for me and so they will for you too!
“The root of bitterness is hate (Matthew 5:21-22)”. Hate stems from pain. God’s message is simple: LOVE!
More from the Discovery Series: It is easy to say, “It’s okay. Everything will turn out all right in the end.” But look at immediate pain that can flow from a family eaten up with hate…(See Genesis) The root of bitterness will produce tragic Fruit – From the Discovery series “Joseph Overcoming life’s Challenges.”
Father we Resist the emotional Spirits of Envy and Selfish Ambition (yes, Father, lead us not into temptation) in all forms that can be intentionally used by the evil one to lead us on the wrong paths –which are noteworthy path(s) away from our path of peace and joy that is full in God’s Kingdom! Above all things we get, Father we seek to get understanding of your Kingdom’s way of Truth and Life that is with You!
Read Luke 10:18-20: We have been given authority to overcome all the power of the enemy…However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you –the great triumph is not in our authority over evil, but rather we rejoice that our names are written in heaven! It is not what we do for God, but what God does for us –this is the agenda for Rejoicing!
- Remember His blessings
- Respond to His call
- Rejoice in His presence
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever…
Thank You Father for Your Word –the written Truth, Your Holy Spirit –your living Truth in us to know with precise discernment of Your thoughts and Your ways that we choose to follow alone; and thus Your will be done!
…Amen.
Jesus refused to leave the Kingdom of God –and so must we! We must love God and love people! Jesus walked forward and UPWARD–on water looking up, with a purpose, in which He was fully prepared for –focused on God and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, because Hallowed be thy name!
Tis the season to be jolly, we can sing fa la la la la…la la la la with a heart full of peace and joy all year round, even (especially) on our way in the hospital or … in any scary or painful situation –OUR joy in the LORD is where our power in Christ is found and seen for God’s glory alone!
What is the worst thing you are going through Today? I am going through Breast Cancer right now. If you take out the “r”, it spells “beast cancer” Cancer is not from God, but God allows us to go through things for a purpose. In all things, Remember:
For my God, you are the Kingdom, and the glory and the power forevermore!
Oh my LORD, God loves us so much; and so does Jesus Christ, our Lord! We are Christ’s gift to God! Wow! And just as Jesus was prepared for HIS purpose –so are we fully prepared and equipped to go through things to get us to our purpose! Jesus did everything for us that day!
IN CONCLUSION:
The Lord’s Prayer is the summary of the whole gospel! This prayer is the foundation of further desires, according to understanding our purpose is to live according to our knowledge that God has purpose in all things we do and go through –for the Spirit to teach us and for us to learn!
We feel the things of this world, and God gives permission for Satan to test our faith, but not without God’s Righteous hand being before us and with us and not without love and assurance of Holy Peace with us –peace is a choice to remain in Jesus when we don’t feel like it –and joy depends on us and what we choose to set our mind on (things of God or how we feel)!
Read in the Train Whistle page 3 (I believe) in the Sub-Chapter called the Great Reveal, this word from God gave me great strength in the waiting room before my 2nd Biopsy!
The Scriptures speak an awesome Truth Message from God:
“Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).”
We must remain faithful to God when it seems like He is not there –because in faith we know HE IS and God IS God –We can’t grasp divine logic, but we can know God’s grand and powerful love that is for us –not against us!
Christ in Christmas IS peace and goodwill toward men! Our job is to remain in Peace –awe, REMAINING in Jesus…with Joy in the Lord alone! I am telling you the truth: I heard the voice of the Lord speak to me a couple of years ago:
“Remain in me and I will remain in you. God is love. Remain in love and you are remaining in me –and he brought 1 Co 13 to my mind!”
What a wonderful Christmas-time it is! The true JOY in Christ is found in the giving of our hearts according to living prepared in the Lord’s Prayer. Christmas is not about the fake things that hang on a tree or the tree that will surely wither and one day die. Christmas is about God loves you and Hallowed be God’s Holy Name!
Peace and Joy in the Lord can be with you through all things –seek the face of God from the feet of Jesus and the Lord’s Prayer is the foundation to aligning our mind to God’s thoughts.
This Christmas, I have peace “going through a medical thing” – I am not that great –I just experience the living Lord God in my life and I know 2 things: 1) God blesses me beyond human comprehension! And, 2) nothing comes to me unless God has given His permission for a test or trial to come to me … So I smile with a genuine knowledge of Jesus; and am so happy and full of peace and joy to share how much my God loves me and is with me –I share to encourage your walk with my God –whom is also your God, to resist all temptations and never give away your Spirit of Peace!
Jesus died and rose again with a purpose to equip us to be near to God in the blessings of grace and with grace through all things! Remember, God didn’t leave the 3 Hebrew boys in the furnace –the Son of God was already in there ahead of them to bring them out, but they had to trust God and love God enough to see what God would do ….
Everything is according to God’s purpose and God’s motive has always been good and of agape all-knowing love! Don’t ever feel like you have to hide from God or run from your purpose! Walk with HIM and experience HIS peace and joy with great power and authority over all things! We CAN trust God and trust also in Jesus!
As the Spirit leads, these are the words that God wanted shared Today –or I would not have had them flow out of me and I could have walked away.
If your life appears not perfect –measured up to the ways of the world …or wow, sometimes people try to measure their faith up to mine, let me say that God has given you your perfect measure of faith, just as he has given my faith to me! I am not perfect either and I get weak just like you, but we can all know the Perfect One and grab His hand in our weakness. It is in our weakness that we can see HIS strength!
The world is watching Christians closely at Christmastime!
Don’t put up the lights until you first allow Jesus to light up your heart! Do it all for the glory of God –or don’t do it at all! It is our heart that matters to God!
What will “they” see “as far as it depends on me” when things don’t go “my” way? –will the world see us reflecting our desire to adhere to God’s holy way unconditionally? Will the world see something different in us –a confidence in trusting God, experiencing the true meaning of Christmas –good will toward men!
Praise is to God in the Highest! Our Jesus Christ has come! The Kingdom has come –on earth as it is in Heaven!
Merry Christmas! And may God’s peace, whom is Jesus Christ, be with you in every step you take – which is for God’s glory alone!
Love in Christ,
Karen Rowe
If you need prayer call me: 919-357-5154 (cell) or email me at karen
God has blessed us richly-by His grace! Remain in the joy of the Lord! Jesus Christ was purposed born with purpose; and He lived and died and Rose again –and HE lives forevermore!
Hope in Today Ministries, Inc. | The Train Whistle, Sounding the Call of God’s Love
www.hopeintoday.com & www.thetrainwhistle.com
God Bless you Karen, we love you and yours and we are praying!!!
In the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey Sharon and Family
www.fggam.org
Happy New Year!
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