Mon, Jun 28th - 2:05PM

Do We Have Obedient Thoughts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxTvKkqVA2I

Get radical about our will to obey God.

Eph. 3:20

3:20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,

Most immature Christians do as little as possible and get blessings. The whole message of God is that He would have us obey Him so that, like a good Father, He can bless us with everything we need.

You reap what you sow. So, if God is wanting to bless you and you go out and destroy your body with addictions, treat others wrong, and have a bad attitude, He is not going to be able to do the things for you He so desires to do. So it is up to you to do right and sew those radical seeds of obedience.

1Pet. 4:1&2

4:1 So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, 4:2 in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires.

The suffering in this verse is the suffering of giving up things that we desire in the flesh. Whether it be immoral acts, addictions, or ill treatment of others. We have to develop the right mind set and say to God, Your will, not mine.

Acts 24:16

24:16 This is the reason I do my best to always have a clear conscience toward God and toward people.

Glory means all excellence of God. God is excellent in everything. Still He waits for us to want to love Him as He loves us. It is never too late to answer His call. However, you will be replaced if you do not take an opportunity to serve Him. Instead, you miss so much the longer you wait. He will never give us something to do we cannot do.

Flesh is rebellious against obedience to God. The carnal or flesh is always going to tempt you away from the spiritual Kingdom of God. It wants to survive even though it knows it cannot. So, it is going to always be pointing away from serving and obeying God.

Romans 7:21-25

7:21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 7:23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

More we abide and spend time with Him the better we obey. We are ruled by what we focus on. The more we focus on God the less we focus on those things that separate us from Him.

Hate sin, Love righteousness. Lean on God. Completely surrender to Him and you will no longer find the time to think on those things that are wrong and lead to death. Love God enough to not do things against Him. Suffer the loss of those addictions and sins that hold you hostage instead of disobedience. Give up that last little bit of control you think you have by holding on to that addiction or sin. Take that step of faith and be different. Do not follow the crowd. You have been set aside and made different for Him.

John 21:15-18

21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep. 21:18 I tell you the solemn truth, when you were young, you tied your clothes around you and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up and bring you where you do not want to go.”

In other words when you become a mature Christian, you will be lead by the Holy Spirit to places you may not want to go. Like to the non-Christians in your community to administer to them and help them. To soup kitchens. To the streets. And even to foreign countries where things will be a lot worse than they are here. But that is when the journey gets exciting because you will see the miracles in your life and in the lives of others. The point being once you get yourself out of the way you will see Jesus and His plan for you. Then the journey will begin but it will never end. God bless.

Tue, Jun 22nd - 10:48AM

Fear Causes Us To Miss God

God is as close as our breath.

            Any time we need God we should understand He is right there.

            We need to talk to Him the same way we would our best friend who follows us around all day.

Whether we feel God or not He is with us.

            We should stop acting on feelings and act because we need to and because God instructs us to.

Courage is action in the midst of fear.

            We may not feel we are brave. If we continue to act and do what God wants us to even when we feel afraid, we are courageous.

Fear stops action. Do not let it.

Fear causes us to disobey God.

            When we listen to fear tell us we cannot do something and we stop even if we sense that God wants us to do it, we are disobeying God.

Do not think ourselves into fear.

            We can allow something to be thought about over and over.

                        Each time we become more and more afraid.

Worst enemy may be your best friend.

            Sometimes someone may do something that takes something away from us or changes what we have. We feel this person has destroyed our lives. Sometime this person may have done us a favor because we are now set on a path to God and what He wants for our life. It hurts when it happens but it turns out good, just like God has said it would.

Sometimes we just sit and stare at problems instead of Jesus. We just cannot see our way out. If we would just look past the problem to Jesus, He will show us the way.

Hebrews 5

5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people and appointed to represent them before God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 5:2 He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, 5:3 and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. 5:4 And no one assumes this honor on his own initiative, but only when called to it by God, as in fact Aaron was. 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” 5:6 as also in another place God says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” 5:7 During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. 5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 5:10 and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Need to Move on to Maturity

5:11 On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

Learn obedience. Keep learning from the Bible and from those willing to teach you who know the Bible. Accept guidance in learning about God and His plan for your life.

Love is not a feeling, it is a willing.

2Tim 1:7

1:7 For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.

These thing show that we are maturing in our love walk with Christ. If we keep refusing to understand God’s Message, the He will put us through things that stink, like manure, which stinks but fertilizes, to help us to grow and produce fruit.

What is fruit? When we become mature in our learning of God’s Ways we want to imitate and be like Him. We want to tell others of our experience with God just like we would of a boyfriend or girlfriend or someone we admire and love very much.

Luke 13:6-9

13:6 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 13:7 So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’ 13:8 But the worker answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. 13:9 Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

We do not want God to throw us out because we are not doing what He would have us do. Instead we want Him to embrace us because we embrace Him and follow His precepts.

So we have the choice of going with our feelings or with God.

Be willing to confront. We must be willing to confront our fears and circumstances to work them out with God. To go forward for Him in a spirit of power.

1John 4:18

4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.

Do not be insecure. We must understand that God is not wanting us to live in a state of punishment or fear of punishment. Instead God wants us to love Him so much that through obedience there will be no punishment. Instead He wants us to be in a constant state of encouragement and growth.

Joshua 1:3

1:3 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses.

In other words, whatever you need to get the job done for the Lord, He will provide and He will give you dominion over all you do for Him.

God bless.

Tue, Jun 15th - 3:09PM

What We Need To Do Now That We Believe

Believe God is & that you are a sinner.

You cannot forgive yourself or do enough good works to be saved.

Isaiah 53:5

53:5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well;

because of his wounds we have been healed.

Being a Christian is the most good thing. It is the most healing way you can go. Healing comes in many forms and sometimes it is not evident physically. But there is much healing done emotionally and mentally that will affect the physical and, if we do not heal physically, we will gain the strength and attitude to bear our physical pain with courage.

2 Corinthians 5:15

5:15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.

When you believe you receive the closeness of God & you should continue to learn from Him. When you totally surrender to God, by believing in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us, and repenting of our sins, we should see the changes in our life. A whole new person rises against sin. People will change if they receive the Holy Spirit & and they will receive the Holy Spirit after they repent of their sins.

God is:

     Personal

     Involved in everything

     Best friend

Holy Spirit is your:

     Teacher

     Leader

     Guide

     Director

God wants to talk with us

     Give us wisdom

     Creativity

     Find missing things for us

The secret is to have that personal relationship with Him.

These are things for the born again in new nature

     Living witness & testimony

God knows to care about everything about you

God loves you unconditionally

     Love heals

God loves us because He wants to not because we do everything right.

     It is based on what Jesus did.

God loves you

When you come to that understanding, you want to do right because God loves us.

We find we need to learn all we can about the One Who loves us.

All of this is based on faith

     Which is a gift from God.

God is all powerful. But He still knows all about us and loves what He knows.

Jesus took the punishment for our sins.

When you believe you receive the closeness of God.

You should continue to learn from Him.

Ephesians 4:22-24

4:22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 4:24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image – in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

Good things have to be chosen. You have to think about doing good and make the effort.

Bad things come where there is no opposition. Bad things simply flow where there is no opposition and is easily passed from person to person. It is easily spread.

You cannot catch health, but you can catch disease.  You must make an effort to stay in good health. The same thing is true about all good things. You must exercise goodness to keep it going in your life.

http://www.melcena.com/RC

Tue, Jun 8th - 1:00PM

My Commandments

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not give false testimony,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and mother.'"

God found we could not do these commandments.

Even today we cannot obey God’s Word.

The Sadducees and Pharisees wanted to test Jesus, so they asked:

Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

Jesus knew that if we love someone we are more apt to do what they say. The more we love them, the more obedient we want to be to them. So if we love God with our whole being, we will obey Him.

Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

Matthew 22:39 A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

This implies that you do love yourself. This does not mean in a sexual or prideful, “I am the only one that counts”, way. It means caring for yourself to the point that you want to do all you can to keep yourself healthy, by doing the things that basically keep your body, mouth, and hair clean on a daily basis, comfortable, having a place to live, even if it is in public housing, a bed and some furniture, kitchen utensils, etc., informed, keeping up with services available to help you in trouble, what is going on around you, etc., stay knowledgeable in God’s Word, clothed in a way that is not provocative but attractive, so that others will be attracted to you so that you can share the Word of God with them, fed with physical food so that you are not always a burden to others that turns them away from your begging and then you wanting them to listen to the Word through you. Pray that God will provide for you to represent Him and give you extra that you can pass it on to those who need. Constantly pray and keep God as your partner and friend and remind Him of His promise to supply you with your needs so that you can allow Him to live through you. Tithe so that the Lord will return it overflowing. Not always in money, but in so many other ways.

Once we learn to love ourselves, let that love overflow to those around us. It is a “through us” thing. We need to be filled with the Spirit of God’s love so full that it spills over in our lives. We need to study His Word every day. When we attend church we need to listen to the teachings and the scriptures. We need to share them with others. We are priests of Gods Word to the world and we need to spread His Truth to everyone we meet. It really does not take much to show and demonstrate His Ways to others. A kind word, a God bless you, even just a smile lifts the other person. When things aren’t going right for you, demonstrate God’s Way by being kind to the other person, even when things are not going your way.

Matthew 22:40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

This means that all of God’s Laws in the old Testament are summed up in the two commandments that Jesus gave us. God just wants us to act as if we had not fallen in the Garden of Eden. He wants us to treat each other with the kindness and selfless actions that He demonstrates everyday by giving us those things we need to survive and granting us His Grace.

Rose’s Corner – http://www.melcena.com/RC