Category: General Christian Living

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1

I’m far better off when I’m dwelling in the secret place…I have to discipline my mind and emotions to dwell there.  This is how I train myself to think of God first when unexpected matters pop up in my life.

Pride and the fear of man can be such hindrances to our lives.  They keep us from humbling ourselves to the Word and from acting on it more often.  They can distance us from the secret place of the Most High.

I believe I didn’t get serious about being deliberate in my thinking until I thought I could really take the Word of God at face value.  Until I was ready to memorize it in order to protect myself from the fiery darts of Satan, until I truly applied it to my life, I was, at best, double-minded (acting on some of the Bible some of the time, and then reverting back to my own, fleshy, weak thoughts and remedies at other times) and had victory sometimes and was defeated at other times.  I wish I’d taken what I merely thought were God’s recommendations as His commands at first.  I would have been a lot better off faster.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him (first), and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.  For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Proverbs 3:25-26

Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:  for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9

Casting all your care upon him (first); for (because) he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11

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Thank God, whatever’s going on, one of the key things when you’re dealing with something – things are going crazy – one of the key things that’s kind of hard to first get into your head is that the tendency, the temptation is to focus on all the stuff that’s happening.  And the first part of victory is not to focus on everything that’s happening.  No, the first thing of victory is to focus on the Lord and not the problem.  You have to start with the Lord if you’re going to have real victory over the problem.

So one of the first things to get, the first victory is getting your mind off all the stuff, the fear, the anxiety, and get it onto God despite it.  And, just by doing that, you’re already saying, “I am not under the storm, I’m under God.”  The fact that I can even let go means that God is more important than the storm.
Excerpt from “The Storm King” by Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

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And be not conformed to this world (they don’t have God so they tend to think of the problems):  but (we who have asked Jesus into our hearts) be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Christians have the tremendous blessing of being able to think of God first), that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (It’s God’s will for us to have His peace, always).
Romans 12:2

I’ve truly found that as I renew my mind to God’s Word, and the more I yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit throughout the day, the more I think of God first.

God bless,

Mark

Feeling trapped or confused by a “Pharaoh” of some kind?

Like me, someone needs to know the battle is the Lord’s.  Amen! Praise God!

As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them.  They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness?  Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt?  What have you done to us?  Why did you make us leave Egypt?  Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt?  We said, ‘Leave us alone!  Let us be slaves to the Egyptians.  It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm.”
Exodus 14:10-14

He (Jahaziel) said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem!  Listen, King Jehoshaphat!  This is what the Lord says:  Do not be afraid!  Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:15

God bless,

Mark

Hello Everyone,

Because we’ve felt exactly like the disciples in the writing below, I read the following to my wife Saturday morning.  We knew we needed to send it out to you.  We love you so much and know that God is in complete control of your lives. ☺♥☺♥

Happy Monday!

*******

“Yet it was the Lord’s good plan to bruise Him and fill Him with grief.  But when His soul has been made an offering for sin, then He shall have a multitude of children, many heirs.  He shall live again and God’s program shall prosper in His hands.  And when He sees all that is accomplished by the anguish of His soul, He shall be satisfied; and because of what He has experienced, My righteous Servant shall make many to be counted righteous before God, for He shall bear all their sins.  Therefore I will give Him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because He has poured out His soul unto death.  He was counted as a sinner, and he bore the sins of many, and He pled with God for sinners” (Isaiah 53:5-12).

Jesus knew that His crucifixion was not a thwarting of God’s plan, but a fulfillment of it.  The disciples, however, didn’t understand (I can be like that when I stop believing God’s with me).  They saw the crucifixion of Jesus as an end to all their hopes and dreams for the future.  They didn’t remember Jesus’ words when He told them, You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and then you will rejoice and no one can rob you of that joy (John 16:22)

The disciples weren’t looking forward to seeing Jesus again, and when they were told that He was no longer in the tomb, they thought His body had been stolen.

Later that day, two of Jesus’ followers walked along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  They were talking about Jesus’ death when suddenly Jesus Himself came and walked beside them.  But they didn’t recognize Him.

He looked at their sad faces and said, What are you so concerned about?  One of them named Cleopas, said, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about the terrible things that happened there last week” (Luke 24:17-18).

Jesus listened as they poured out their sad tale to Him, about the wonderful Jesus of Nazareth who had done such great miracles that they were sure He was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel, but the religious leaders had handed Him over to the Roman government and He had been crucified.  The men spoke as if they had just witnessed the greatest tragedy the world had ever known.  On top of it all, they said the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb and some women said they’d seen angels who told them that Jesus was alive.  The men seemed certain that the last bit of news could only be a fairy tale.

Then Jesus said to them, You are such foolish, foolish people!  You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures!  Wasn’t it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His time of glory?

Then Jesus quoted them passage after passage from the writings of the prophets, beginning with the book of Genesis, and going right on through the Scriptures, explaining what the passages meant and what they said about Himself (Luke 24:25-27).

By this time they were coming near Emmaus, and since it was getting late, the two men asked the stranger to spend the night with them.  They still hadn’t recognized Him!

Jesus came home with them, and when they sat down to eat, He asked God’s blessing on the food and then took a small loaf of bread and broke it and was passing it over to them when suddenly – it was as though their eyes were opened – they recognized Him! (Luke 24:30-31)

At last they believed.  But for so long they had been able to see only the outward circumstances and had completely missed seeing God’s perfect plan unfolding.

The disciples had seen their leader crucified, an apparent triumph of evil over good, and they had taken it as proof that God was not present with them.  Yet, had they believed God’s Word spoken through the prophets, they would have taken the same circumstances as evidence that God was with them and working out His plan.

We, too, are like the disciples.  When trials and sorrows come our way, our first reaction is, “Oh God, why have you forsaken me?”

But Jesus said, Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33)

If we truly believed these words of Jesus, we’d see our circumstances as evidence of God’s presence with us, and we’d praise and thank Him for them instead of complaining and grumbling.

We shake our head at the world conditions as if to say, “Now there is plenty of evidence that God isn’t doing much these days.”

But Jesus told His followers to expect wars, earthquakes, famines, insurrections, epidemics, and so on down the list – a perfect picture of the world we live in, and a promise that it would be getting worse.

Jesus said, Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing hear (Luke 21:28 RSV).

When things get worse in this world of ours, it is no evidence that God is absent or indifferent.  Quite the contrary.  All these signs are evidence that God is very near, that every part of His plan and purpose is being fulfilled just as His Word has promised us.

Jesus told His disciples to rejoice with Him over His crucifixion.  Had they been able to trust in His word, they could have experienced joy instead of grief.  God’s Word tells us to rejoice in our trials.

Peter wrote, “Though not seeing Him you trust Him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself” (1 Peter 1:8).

So what will you (Mark – put your name in here) believe?  Will you walk along your road as did the two men going toward Emmaus, saddened and preoccupied by the outward circumstances, convinced that God is far away?  Or will you let your eyes be opened and be thankful?

Receive the love, the peace, and the joy that Jesus is offering you.  Believe that Jesus is with you and that God is working in every circumstance of your life to meet your need.

The very thing you think is painful proof of God’s absence from your life is in fact His loving provision to draw you toward Himself – so that your joy may be full!

Look up and praise Him!  He loves you and He dwells in the praises of His people!
Taken from “Power In Praise” by Merlin Carothers – Edits mine

God bless,

Mark

It’s the most wonderful thing that God has made “His ways” of living this life available to us.

Why is it important to know what the Bible has to say about how we should live?  Why “do” God’s ways?  Because His ways are true life.  Doing His ways will protect us, heal us and meet our true needs.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do (put into practice):  and (if you “do,” then) the God of peace shall be with you.
Philippians 4:9

And the God of peace shall be with you.  Such a sweet, sustaining reward for “doing” what God tells us to do, that which will bring us His peace, rest, love, abiding joy and Presence.

God bless,

Mark

Ann and I went to a birthday party the other day.  I saw a man who’s an excellent carpenter.  I wanted to ask him about installing laminate flooring on a curved wall.  As it turned out, not only did he tell me how he’d install around the curve, this gentleman also shared some neat spiritual truths with me.

Two things he said really touched me in a special way.  He said he’d been injured when he fell about a year ago and went through a few weeks of deep depression that caused him to cry out to the Lord for help.  The Lord brought him out of the depression and he knew he was a different man having more compassion, and sensitivity to the things of God.

He told me he never used to cry but that he’d recently had an experience with the Lord when he found himself sobbing about some things the Lord wanted to help him with.  God wants to help us.  Isn’t that wonderful?

God was showing this man how to meet his wife’s needs and how he could be more gentle and loving with her.  I really like it when I get to meet other men who mention that the Lord speaks to them about loving their wives more and how to better meet their emotional needs.  For instance, my (Mark) wife doesn’t like to be teased so I refrain from teasing her.  She also wants me to listen to her more with a genuine interest so I can help her resolve matters that she needs my help with, and to be gentle with her when talking to her and interacting with her.  She loves it when I guard her heart.

The other thing this man said was that the Lord wanted us to think more about Philippians 4:8 and to live praising God and being thankful all the time.  God was telling this gentle man to change his thinking so that it lined up more with the following:

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8

I hadn’t seen this man in years and I was really thankful God had us talk together at the birthday party.  What a blessing…

That evening as Annie and I were getting ready for bed, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.  He said, “Do you know why I want you to practice Philippians 4:8?  It’s because that’s how Eden was.  God wants you (all of us) to come back to Eden, back to His loving, liberating thinking and thoughts.”  (All it takes is a willing heart.)  Wow, that was beautiful, encouraging, merciful, and so loving.

What a great God we have.  Such an incredible source of comfort and our ever-watchful Prince of Peace.

God bless,

Mark

I heard Amir Tsarfati, a dear Israeli Christian, speaking about how the Jews missed the hour of their visitation (Luke 19:44 in the Bible) when Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago.  The man was warning and encouraging people to be ready for Christ’s return to earth and of the coming tribulation.  His talk was loving and pretty sobering to say the least.  He spoke about Romans 13:11 and how people need to wake up to the reality and seriousness of what’s coming in the very near future.

My wife and I watch Pastor Farag’s weekly prophecy updates.  I really like his sincerity, humility, honesty and insights.  You can find his weekly updates on youtube.  This update was particularly good as he talks about how much faster the end times events are coming.

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
Matthew 24:22

Please watch Pastor J.D. Farag’s prophecy update in the link below.

Mid-East Prophecy Update – February 25th, 2018

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.  2 “Do you see all these things?”  he asked.  “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately.  “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered:  “Watch out that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.  6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.  18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.  19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.  21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.  23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.  24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  25 See, I (Jesus) have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.  27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.  And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:  As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.  34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.  41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  43 But understand this:  If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.  48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.  50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.  51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew Chapter 24

God bless,

Mark

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32

I’m sure you can relate to the following experience/lesson I had the other day…

I was doing some work the other day when I had the thought of being a little weary, spiritually.  At first, I didn’t recognize the source of that idea, and thought, “Well, You’re probably right, Jesus.  I guess I could be a little spiritually weary.”  I began feeling (sure sign that I need to test the spirit behind the thought) somewhat tired in my spirit and felt I could use a break from spiritual battles.

That’s when it dawned on me, “Wait a minute.  I see what’s going on here.”  The devil was behind the spiritually weary thought and was trying to get me to buy into his lie.  I said, “Ah, I see you, satan.  I’m not really weary.  You’re just trying to get me to believe your lie.”  Instantly, the weary thoughts vanished and I felt really encouraged in the Lord.  Yay, God.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing:  for (because) in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9

The battles never end…

Neither do the victories.

Now thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ and who maketh manifest through us the savor of His knowledge in every place (Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.  NLT).
2 Corinthians 2:14

God bless,

Mark

I (Jesus) am the vine, ye are the branches:  He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:  for (because) without me (Jesus) ye can do nothing.
John 15:5

Things I wasn’t good at and other things that bugged me or annoyed me in life – God was about to touch these areas and heal them, line upon line in His time…☺

In the beginning, although I thought I was going to be good at marriage, and had many good intentions, the Lord showed me I was a pretty selfish husband and had a lot of insecurity and generational strongholds.  For instance, I wasn’t as gentle as the Lord knew I needed to be with my precious wife.  God had to make a lot of good changes in me because, apart from Him, it wasn’t going to happen.

It takes humility to come to God and to experience His love and healing.  I’ve found that nothing really gets done in me when I cling to pride.  And humility becomes so attractive and feels so right and good.  That’s why I’ve come to embrace surrendering to the Lord.  It’s the sweetest posture and position/place in the universe.

What was/is God’s intention for life?  Last night, the Holy Spirit said something really interesting to me.  He said, “I know how you’d be in Eden.”  Wow, that stopped me in my thoughts and I sensed I should let it linger on my mind…☺

Goals have you tied up in urgency?  Feel vengeful.  Aggression keeping you keyed up?  Do you hate red lights, stop signs?  Wrestle with pride, unforgiveness, impatience?  Have trouble stilling yourself before God?

That’s wonderful.  God points these things out to show us our need for healing in these things.  And, that’s just what He loves to do.  He’s all about making us new.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:17

God can/will turn these around for you.  Whatever the devil has told you you’re harnessed with can be redeemed in Jesus.  We’re not left to these things, nor to ourselves.  That’s just the devil’s lie.  No, Christ can set us free from any annoyance we’ve picked up in life, and from our own fleshly tendencies.  He can help us to come away from minding the flesh.  Isn’t that exciting?  God can make red signal lights enjoyable and restful as we stop and take time out in our day.

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

Just let it go and leave it with God.  Let Him change you.  If we’re willing, He can set us free to enjoy everything in our lives.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden (burdened), and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28

Don’t believe God can do it?  Like me, ask Him to heal your unbelief. ☺

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good thing, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5

Just let it go…

God bless,

Mark

In this was manifested the love of God toward us:  that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
1 John 4:9

For God SO LOVED the world that…

Just wanted you to know today how MUCH God loves you.  “That” in John 3:16 is the extent of God’s love for you.  He was willing to do whatever it took to show you His love for you.

He loves you and only wants the best for you.

16 “For God so loved the world (that’s you and me), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17

God bless,

Mark

1 O God, do not be silent!  Do not be deaf.  Do not be quiet, O God.
2 Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies?  Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?  3 They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones.  4 “Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.  We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”

17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever.  Let them die in disgrace.  18 Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord, that you alone are the Most High, supreme over all the earth.
Psalm 83:1-5; 17-18

19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.  When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
Isaiah 59:19

I was reading in the book of Isaiah the other day where the Assyrian king was threatening King Hezekiah in Jerusalem.  Israel was greatly intimidated until the prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah that God was going to turn back the Assyrians and kill the Assyrian king.  That’s exactly what took place.

Sounds a lot like what’s going on today with Iran and Israel with the same impending outcome for Iran.  When Israel’s enemies attack her in the last days, God’s going to destroy them as foretold in the Bible book of Ezekiel chapters 38-39.

God’s in control and we’re on the verge of seeing that carried out in the Middle East as Iran positions itself with military outposts in Syria.  (Debka.com is pretty informative these days for accurate Israeli news.)

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent:  hath he said, and shall he not do it?  or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35 I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”  36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.  When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!  37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.  He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
Isaiah 37:35-37

Very exciting times…

As Jesus commands us to do in Matthew chapter 24, keep looking up for our redemption is very near.

God’s in control…And the whole earth is about to find that out.

God bless,

Mark

Happy Monday!

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:6

We can be confident that if we continue to follow Christ that He’ll keep making us into His image.  We’ll have His peace that passes understanding, we’ll truly believe that He’s working all things together for our good, we’ll be content in whatsoever state we’re in, we’ll find it easy to forgive those who trespass against us, we’ll be able to love our enemies, we’ll be free from sudden fear, we’ll be free indeed.

Keep walking with Jesus and following His lead.  Nothing like our Jesus…Nothing.

God bless,

Mark

I’m gonna keep on telling folks about Jesus.  I’m gonna keep on writing and keep on loving and pointing folks to Calvary.  I found Jesus, and let me tell you, brother (and sister) that’s enough for me.  (Lyric taken from “I’m Gonna Keep On” by Bill Gaither (My Edits).

Secular motivational speakers have many catchy phrases and promising ideas, but they can’t offer their seminar participants Jesus so they can’t give them the Holy Spirit to watch over their souls and minds.  The Holy Spirit is given only to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior to comfort them and to help them renew their minds.

Okay, this email is a little longer and it’s something that’s been brewing in the back of my soul for years.  I just got so encouraged to share it with you and the Lord let me put it all down in this email.  Praise the Lord!

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2 Corinthians 10:4

I have to tell you about an experience I had back in the early 90s while meeting with a headhunter.  His office was in a building not far from where a really famous (I won’t mention his name, but he’s even instructed/advised US Presidents) secular motivational speaker’s office is located in the UTC area of San Diego.  The headhunter mentioned this motivational speaker by name and then told me, “You know, that guy doesn’t live a thing he’s teaching.”

Honestly, that didn’t surprise me.

A few years ago, I walked into the North County San Diego office of another world-renowned motivational speaker – he also teaches about how to overcome fear, become successful, etc.  I was telling his receptionist I knew all about fear and how to overcome it when the actual motivational speaker himself stepped out of his office right behind her.  He took one look at me and kind of shrank back a little bit in his spirit – He had a big question mark all over his face and body.  It was really odd.  At that moment, I knew this man didn’t have Jesus and was merely sharing a lot of secular information with anyone who’d listen.

Yesterday, I was listening to a youtube video.  The video was the testimony of another young fellow who was, at one time, supposed to be the next Zig Ziglar.  Although this young man never attended college, he’d read and studied a lot of the available worldly motivational material including the material of the men who have their offices in the San Diego area.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, the young man who was supposed to be the next Zig Ziglar said he now advises people not to spend a dime on all the motivational material he’d put out over the last several years, and that the people who’d attended his seminars had wasted their $1k entrance fee.  He said that what he was teaching them never really did much for him and didn’t really work in the end.  In the end, he lost everything including his marriage…And, nearly his life.  He’d finally realized all that information had just filled his life with strife and stress.  It never had brought him any peace.

So what finally did work for this young man?

Jesus.

With Jesus, we have the supernatural information, the Word, and weapons to walk in real newness of life.  It’s true for anyone who will do the Word, for anyone who will act on Jesus’ teachings.

This world’s motivational speakers will probably not tell you to praise and thank God in all things, that God is able to work all things together for the good of those who love Him, and that God can truly teach them to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Fellow Christians, we have been given the greatest teachings and blessings in the universe – And, it’s all free.  Because Christ has overcome this world, as His children, we can overcome this world.

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation:  but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

2 And be not conformed to this world:  but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

Oh, thank you, Jesus!  Thank You, precious Holy Spirit, for helping us to be truly set free as You live in us and teach us God’s ways.

God please bring the secular motivational speakers to You.  Open their eyes to Jesus.

God bless you all,

Mark

I have a cold and am feeling pretty tired.  And, I wasn’t sure I had anything to share with you today.  Then, Jesus reminded me that I never do have anything to share with you, but that I can rest in Him and His provision as He encourages me/us each day.  It’s so neat how the Lord comes into our every day lives and circumstances to share His transforming life with us.

Boy, I just love the verse below.  It reminds me of how in His love for us, God teaches us that He’s with us in every one of life’s storms that try to capsize us.  Jesus is in our boat, folks.  With Jesus, we’ll never go down.  He always leads us through. ☺

14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:14

Man, don’t you just love Jesus.  What an incredible Savior.  Never a dull moment.  I’d follow Him anywhere – always an adventure.  It must have been so amazing to be one of His disciples while He was on earth.  Following Him around would have been so wonderful and life-altering.  Now, we get to follow where He leads each one of us.  Life (and He is the Life) doesn’t get any better than that.

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6

I love you all.  Think of how much Jesus loves you. ☺

Jesus:  “Come on, let’s go.  I’ll show you the new victories I have in store for you today as, together, we love those around us, bring them peace and joy, and walk in newness of life each and every day.”

Yeah, boy…

God bless,

Mark

3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.
Psalm 113:3

Thank you, God, for this day.  From dusk to dawn I will rest in Your promises of love, direction, protection, grace and truth.

Have a blessed day and week, everyone.

God bless,

Mark

Hi Everyone,

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24

I hope I can make the following clear and understandable because I believe it’s really important, especially today.

I’m becoming aware of something I wanted to share with you.  You’ve probably noticed it as well.

While it’s been true in the past as well, I’m seeing more and more Christians and pastor/teachers feeding and expanding their intellectual understanding while neglecting to crucify their flesh – crucifying the flesh maintains humility which is vitally necessary in order to follow Christ.  As a result, many Christians and pastor/teachers are opening themselves up to theological and spiritual error, and to the world’s influence as well.  This can be seen clearly in the spirit of mammon that’s trying to dominate Christians.  That type of focus will send us off in many damaging directions and puff up the flesh instead of crucifying the flesh.

The only thing I know of that will unite the church and give the mind proper, biblical discernment is to become Christ’s disciples by continuing in His Word.  Only in doing the Word will the flesh be crucified – Knowledge of the Word is not enough.

Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed in Him, “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed.”
John 8:31

I believe that what Jesus meant in John 8:31 was that if we continue to learn and do His Word, all areas of our lives would become free from the impact our flesh has on us.  We would be more free from pride and other pressures of the flesh.

If we’re not crucifying the flesh by living the Word, by being doers of the Word, the flesh will continue to dominate us and attempt to dominate and control our spirits.  As we all know, the flesh has a voracious appetite and will fight all attempts to be taken over.  It has little discernment and is open to pride – Satan’s downfall.  Pride feeds the intellect and dispels the notion that the flesh must be crucified.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22

Christ commands us to be doers of the Word if we’re to become His disciples.  It’s the only way I know of to become free indeed.

Please don’t misunderstand me here.  I’m not saying we need to discard our minds and intellect.  But, both need to be brought under the control of the Holy Spirit by renewing them to the Word of God.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:  not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

I’ve never had God’s peace while living for the flesh.  On the other hand, the more I listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the more my flesh is dying and the more free I’m becoming in the peace, rest, and joy of the Lord.

I love you all.

God bless,

Mark

28 Come unto me (Jesus), all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28

Sometimes I think God has brought me so far from the fearful life I was living years ago.  Then, I discover more of His love and care over my life and I realize there’s a never-ending depth to His love and delivering mercy, peace, rest, grace and joy.  We have such a wonderful Savior.

This song (I put it on “loop” and let its loving message sink deep in my spirit.  So refreshing.) reminds me of how incredibly thankful I am that He called me out of the darkness into His marvelous light.  “Thank you, Jesus.”

I Will Rest In Your Love
By Marty Nystrom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hxxXp1okDs&list=RD2hxxXp1okDs

I will rest in Your (Jesus) love
Put my trust in Your goodness
And set my thoughts on peaceful things above

I will cast away my cares
And find my joy in Your presence
I will rest, I will rest in Your love

(Repeat)

Whom shall I fear, why should I worry?
Your grace is enough for my need
Your joy is my strength
Your peace is my shelter
You faithfully watch over me

(Repeat Chorus)

All of my doubts, all of my striving
By faith I lay down at Your Throne
Your Word is my shield, Your Spirit my power
You tenderly care for Your own

(Repeat Chorus twice)

God bless,

Mark

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.  16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God[a] that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,[b] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.  You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.  19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

2 “Repent (or, exchange our ways for God’s ways), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:2

Satan will do all he can to keep us from having harmony in our relationships because he wants to steal, kill and destroy us.  He’s been destroying us with lies from the beginning in the Garden of Eden.  The last thing he wants is for us to be doers of God’s Word.

I think it’s really something how God mentions in the Bible’s book of Isaiah that if we continue to choose to live in our ways that the result will be that we oppose each other through increasing disharmony.

On the other hand, if we repent, if we turn from our ways and choose to begin to learn about God’s ways to live, we’ll have more harmony between us.  This is why it’s so important to be doers of the Word, of His ways.

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 NLT

How do we learn and put God’s ways in our lives?  By reading the Bible to see what Jesus has to say about how we should live our lives in this world.  This is how we’ll stop opposing each other and move towards harmony.

God bless,

Mark

Happy Monday, Everyone –

We weren’t built to live in today’s world.  No, we were designed to live in Eden.  That’s why God’s drawing us back to Him…

Earlier this week, I was reading in the book of Isaiah in the Bible and God was talking about spiritual conditions getting so bad (they’d left God’s ways and were living in their own ways – never good) in the lives of the Israelites that they began “opposing” each other.  Wow, sounds like today, like what happens in marriages, and society as a whole.  We can even get to the point that we oppose ourselves.

Wow, there’s nothing like being drawn closer and closer to Jesus.  If you’re like me and have problems that can’t be resolved or seem to be never-ending, rejoice!

Yes, rejoice!

Often, God works through problems we face to draw us to Him.  His “chosen” (those He knows have ears to hear) people have issues that force them to become close to Him, to find out His ways.

You’re “chosen,” precious one.  Hallelujah!

Boy, I have some great news for you this morning.  Ann and I were talking about some of the recent trials some people we know are going through.  I started to analyze their troubles and couldn’t figure out how they were going to resolve their matters – I could feel care and a spiritual heaviness coming over me.  The devil even whispered in my ear that God wasn’t going to be able to help them and that those people were stuck in their situations.  It was pretty discouraging.

Well, I got up to go do something when I decided to read some of the Bible.  Wow, the Lord began speaking to me about how exciting it is when we come to dead-ends with no apparent way out.  He told me when there’s no way out, just like what happened (and still happens from time to time) to me many years ago, that’s when God’s allowing circumstances in our lives to make us turn to Him – He’s funneling us to Him.  This is exactly the same thing that happened to Israel in the Bible.

In His matchless, supernatural understanding and love for His people, He allowed things to build up in their lives until they turned back to Him, to His loving, liberating, joy-producing, life-sustaining ways – This is when times of refreshing come – That’s so exciting and exactly the message in Merlin Carothers’ book, “Power In Praise.”  Merlin states over and over that it doesn’t matter what series of circumstances makes you focus on God, all that matters is that you do.  God is the way around all life’s obstacles.

Now the devil will try to make us think we need to resolve matters in our own power, strength or intellect because he will do anything to keep us from turning to God and incorporating His ways in our lives.  Feeling pressure, or like you just can’t go on?  Praise God!  Seek God!  He’s your answer.

2 I (the Apostle Paul) want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.  I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.  3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.  5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you.  And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
Colossians 2:2-5

God bless,

Mark