Overlooked

James 4:1-3 (KJV) 1 From whence [come] wars and fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.

I can’t seem to convince people how important prayer is. God has made us his representatives. If we do nothing, and nothing good happens most Christians think that must have been God’s will. So many Christians are fatalistic talking about the end of the world instead of the end of the age. We have made 7 bad years outweigh 1000 good years. Jesus wants to move the capital of heaven here and rule from here for a thousand years. He literally wants heaven on earth. Why aren’t we praying that way?

Matthew 7:7-11 (KJV) 7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

God specializes in giving good things. Ask Him for good. Ask Him to spill heaven into your situation.

Be blessed!

TJ

Spread the Word

Today, I’m starting an effort to reach the praying Christians in Louisville and the surrounding area. This is something of a “kitchen sink prayer.” (Everything’s in there but the kitchen sink.) My desire is to see unity and love between the Christians of Louisville. I’m not talking about uniformity. Think of an extended family. The grandparents, their children and the grandchildren all believe different things but they all love each other (or should.) Their is no reason why different denominations can’t love each other. We need to concentrate on Jesus not our differences. Feel free to take this and share it (I don’t care if you’re in the area.) Please consider what it says.

https://sabercathost.com/9vfD/Praying_in_unity_1_(1).rtf

https://sabercathost.com/5j6z/Praying_in_unity_1.docx

https://sabercathost.com/9vfC/Praying_in_unity_1.epub

Click to access Praying_in_unity_1.pdf

 

 

Be blessed!

TJ

Which way?

 

 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalms 119:105 KJV 

 

I thought I would be doing something else with this, but no. That’s ok, God’s way is always best. I just hope I’ve got it.

I’m going to be trying to contact different prayer groups in different churches in the Louisville metro area to try to get us praying in the same direction. This isn’t like me.

I’ll post more in the next few days.

Be blessed!

TJ

The Spear

Roman Soldier

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints–

Ephesians 6:13-18 NKJV

I’ve had two things stirring in me. The first is that one of the enemies tactics is to wear us out. He wants us tired and not thinking just reacting. The second is the above passage. Paul used the Roman soldier’s uniform as an analogy to show the basics of Christian life. I actually suggest to everyone to look up and study the Roman soldier’s uniform. It’s enlightening. I’d like to point out that Paul didn’t actually mention one piece but he did refer to it. When he got to verse 18 the only piece left was the spear.  I believe he’s referring to the spear as prayer. Roman soldiers would hook their shields together and have their spears extending beyond the shields to break through enemy lines.

I’m convinced we need to be praying for the power of God to break the enemy lines in our life. We need to pray for refreshing, strength, healing, revelation in our lives, our church, our friends’ and loved ones’ lives, and the lives of the lost. Prayer is what will pierce through enemy lines and enemy lies. Prayer and praise brings God into the situation. (I consider praise a form of prayer.) Look at this prayer Paul wrote.

 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what [is] the width and length and depth and height– 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV

If you feel like you can’t some up with a good “piercing through” prayer, this would be a good starting place.

Be blessed!

TJ

Who To Vote For

Romans 12:18 [KJV] 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

1Timothy 2:1-2 [KJV] 1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and [for] all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

I want you to understand that God loves both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He wants them as His own children. It is easy to get tied up in disagreement so that we lose sight of His love and the command to love and the command to forgive.

We American Christians have been for a long time deciding who we should vote for and voting without really giving God His due. We have messed up. I repent.
We have made this an intellectual pursuit. The office of the presidency is too much for mere intellect.

Jimmy Carter, who I respect as a Christian, is highly intelligent. There are those who were close to him when he was in office who said that he probably understood the office better than any president within the last hundred years. It paralyzed him. He was a good man and did a bad job.
When Reagan came along, personally I disliked him. Not because of his politics, but because every fiber of my being knew he was phony. This is something about people who are called to intercede, phonies turn us off. Reagan was an actor and he acted his way through the presidency – and it worked. Again I am not talking about issues or politics. Ronald Reagan would walk into a room and act like he was in charge and voila! He was in charge. He did not know what he was doing. He had other people figuring out what to do for him. He would read cue cards. And it worked.

We’ve been going by issues and policy and making up our minds by what we believe is right and true, but we don’t know anyone’s heart. We don’t know the future. We don’t know. We need to act like we believe God knows. We need to act like God will speak to us like it says in the Bible. We need to pray and hear from God who to vote for and we need to pray for everyone running like our lives depend on them hearing from God because it may.

Pray! Vote! Pray!

Be blessed!

TJ

John 10:2-4 [KJV] 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Peace

  

1 Timothy 2: 1-2 (KJV)I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

I can’t actually say that I’m happy with politics right the moment but it doesn’t actually matter. God can change the heart of whoever takes an office. 

Father God,

I ask you and invite you into the lives of anybody in this country who will take office or has taken office. I ask you Lord to get through to them, open their eyes. I ask you to show them that they need your guidance.  I ask you to guide them whether they want it or not. I ask you to send laborers into their harvest. I ask you to show them the path of righteousness. In Jesus name

Amen
Be blessed

TJ

Walk

  

Isaiah 28:10 (NKJV) 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

Have you ever walked a long distance in a area you thought you knew? You discovered there were many places you never laid eyes on before because you were paying attention to something else. Or you had rushed by and just didn’t see it at all. Perhaps you rode through many times but you never walked it before.

When we take the Bible as a mental exercise we don’t get the spiritual aspects of it. Memorizing isn’t the same as believing. Just because we understand a Biblical precept with our mind doesn’t mean we’ve broken all the bad habits that go against it. We need to walk through the land instead of taking the express.

Psalm 4:8 (NKJV) 8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

I came to a full realization last year that most of my problems have to do with sleep or lack there of. Most of the emergencies in my life have happened -started- when I was asleep. So when I lay down, anxiety tries to come in.  The above verse is my starting place. I read this verse to myself out loud several times emphasizing a different word each time. I make it personal to me. I know if God will do it for David, He will do it for me. I have a better covenant; I came in under the Jesus plan. So can you. So you know that if He will do it for me, He will do it for you. Thank God for his grace!

Be blessed!

TJ

Money

  

Luke 16:13 [NIV]“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

I believe in this world it’s very difficult to have the right attitude about money. The way our economy is set up we spend most of our time pursuing money. But we are not supposed to have our heart set on money. A lot of Christians think they should have just enough for them and their family, but that’s not right either. We’re supposed to be able to fund God’s mission here on earth.

I have heard you will reap what you sow preached so often I’ve had a difficult time not thinking legalisticly about money. When Jesus talks about 30, 60, or 100 fold return He’s not talking about a mathematical equation. it’s more like good, better and best. The truth is we get everything from God anyway. He gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

Matthew 6:31-33 (HCSB) 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ‘ or ‘What will we drink? ‘ or ‘What will we  wear? ‘ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Be blessed!

TJ

Repeat

  

Psalm 91:1-2 (KJV) 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

I just read an article that said we shouldn’t pray the same things all the time because they lose meaning. I have to think the person who wrote that only prays with their mind and not their spirit. Sometimes with the Bible, with any spiritual thing, it’ll take 1 million repetitions before it truly dawns on you what you’re talking about. That’s because the mind has only a limited understanding of spiritual things. I heard that George Washington Carver asked God why He created the peanut. God told him that was too much for him to understand. Our minds want to understand, but they are severely limited in comparison to our spirits. We can train our minds to the point that they will act spiritual, but they can never take the place of our spirits.

Ephesians 4:17-18 (KJV) 17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

I pray the Bible a lot. God told me to pray Psalm 91 daily. When something gets to the point that it’s meaningless,  we either aren’t hearing it or we’ve decided that we know what it means. Once we decide we understand something, we can become unteachable in that area. With God we are usually just barely started. I know when I am 10,000 years old God will still have stuff to teach me.

Be blessed!

TJ

Abyss or Abundance

Psalms 42:7 [NKJV] 7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

The word deep means two things: the abyss or an abundance of water. Waterfalls in the Word generally stands for people who speak God’s Word. The massive emptiness of the abyss calls to the abundance to be filled. The abundance calls to the abyss to come and be filled. The question is where are we standing?

Those who are in the abyss tend to preach against -whatever-. Understand I mean a loose definition of preaching. Those in the abundance tend to talk about Jesus.  Jesus can fill you. Jesus can heal you. Jesus can restore your soul.  When we preach against something, it can empty us because we are concentrating on the emptiness and making it  bigger within us. Magnifying sin always seems to make it insurmountable. But when we preach Jesus, we are putting our eyes on Him and He fills us.

Philippians 3:12-14 [NKJV] 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus told us to love God with all that we are and all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. He also told us to go make disciples. Everything else He said can be put under these categories. Everything else is distraction and will be taken care of in the process. We’re not going make disciples preaching “you shouldn’t do that.” People have heard that so often they don’t hear it anymore.  But when we show Jesus loves us and wants us all whole, lives change and God can move.

Be blessed!

TJ