Sunday, April 13, 2014

One Day At A Time Sweet Jesus

As I was lying in my hospital bed, after having a heart attack, I started to take stock in myself, what was happening to me, and what direction I was headed to in this life. Sometimes we as Christians must take stock in our lives and see where we are at in our daily walk. We must put God in control and not ourselves.

The most important thing I had face up to in my spiritual life is thanking God for this day and rejoicing in the fact that God has given me another day to live for Him and Do His blessed will. We all have human frailties. I do, you do, and so does everyone else. I have come to realize after my last hospital and being coded (dying three times) I or no one else on this earth has a guarantee that tomorrow will ever come. Emotionally, however, because I’m human I have fears and anxieties that arise within me and I am tempted to look for tomorrow to be a better day. Relief will come tomorrow. But does it? Our only help comes from the Lord who made the heavens and earth. We are sustained by the Lord.

I have come to the conclusion when I think that help comes tomorrow I am yielding to an unhealthy way spiritually speaking. When a person fails to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and they forfeit the peace they have in Christ and the joy that always comes from abiding in Christ one day at a time. As Christians we cannot rightly think that tomorrow or the next day will take care of our needs. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy our needs for He is the one whole holds our hand and knows the future for we know who holds our hand.

When I turn everything over to God at the beginning of everyday, immersing myself in God’s love I have the strength to enjoy the day because the Lord’s love is hidden in my heart. He gives me strength. Only a Christian can understand that. Every day is a new opportunity to experience fullness of life, to draw ourselves closer to our maker and the one who cares for us. We must fix our eyes not on what we can see, but what we cannot see what we cannot see. For what we see is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18) When we look past our visible circumstances, we See God's Eternal Kingdom for we know who holds tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

He Touched Me!

After the events of the past week there is no doubt in my mind who holds my future in the palms of His hand. I say that because truly this week God has had me in the palm of his hand. I went to the hospital for a breathing treatment (I have Asthma) and was not there but a few minutes when I had a heart attack and coded three times (Died three times in a row) and was brought back. When I awoke from my sleep the doctor was standing over me and said welcome back. The doctor said it was a miracle that you are here with us because you have coded three times. The doctor said it right, it was a miracle. A miracle that I was in the right place at the right time and with the right people, but behind all this was the fact that the Lord I serve was in the room with me and he also guided me to the hospital. He guided the doctors and nurses as they tried to keep me alive.

While I was at the hospital one of my many visitors was a man who was filled with the Holy Ghost and I could feel his presents as he entered the room and as he prayed for me I felt a healing touch go through my body and I instantly felt better and they let me go home the next day. I’m not saying that the nurses and doctors did not help because if I said that I would be lying. What I am saying is this. The Lord sent this man and when he prayed for me the Lord touched me and did a work in my body. Praise be to His wonderful name! I feel wonderful in my body.

For some time now (many years) I have felt like the devil and his demons has done everything in their power to come against me. My children, grand children, my dad, and other members of my family he has attacked because he knows they are close to my heart. I have faced financial loss, been through more than one divorce, and just about everything else the devil could through up against me. As I was in the hospital they took my dad to the hospital with heart failure, but my dear friends I want you know the anchor holds! I once new a black pastor who was in a nursing home and I would see him walking down the hall and when I asked him how he was doing his answer was always the same. “Brother Patchett I’m going to keep on keeping on” and by God’s grace, my friends, that is exactly what I’m going to do; KEEP ON KEEPIMG ON!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

What Can Take Away Our Sins?

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What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus; This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Now by this, I’ll overcome—Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this, I’ll reach my home—Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Glory! Glory! This I sing—nothing but the blood of Jesus, All my praise for this I bring—
nothing but the blood of Jesus
.
To be a follower of Jesus the Christ makes me so proud and secure. I will be the first to tell anybody that I was saved by that precious blood of Jesus. I was lost and undone without God or His Son and God saved my soul. It was by The Blood that was shed on the old rugged cross that made the difference in my life. I said all that to say this, I recently read an article in a local newspaper in which a man wrote this; “Any person that teaches they have the exclusive path to God and all non-believers will suffer eternal damnation is wrong.” Any person that would make such a statement is a person who does not read and rightly divide the word of God if he reads it at all. Like so many other people he is lost and knows not God. Before I was saved I always tried to be good. I did what was right, I kept the Ten Commandments to the best of my ability, I went to church, and I did all the ordinance of the church, I was baptized in water, took communion, but all this did not save me even though we should do these things. My name was on the church books but it was not in the Book that my Lord kept. I was like thousands of other people who thought they were right but like them, I was not. I was lost without God or His Son! There are other people who believe their denomination will save them. Some believe their good works will save them, some believe that keeping the ordinances of the church will save them. But the sad fact is you can be baptized in water all you want, but that will not save you. It is a good testimony but it will not save you. Taking communion will not save you. Church ordinances will not save you. Praying to a dead person such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a dead saint will not save you because they were in need of a savior too. The fact is they are dead. There is only one mediator between God and man and that mediator is Christ Jesus. When I get to heaven I want to see Jesus and then I want to see these other people who were obedient to our God. But praying to these people is wrong and they cannot save you. Jesus said that no man comes to the father but by Him. How much more plainer can it get? Allah cannot save you. Buddha cannot save you. Mother Nature cannot save you, Mary, the mother of Jesus, cannot save you or any other dead saint. It is what Jesus did on the cross. What can take your sins away? It is nothing but the blood of Jesus. When a person searches the scriptures and rightly divides the word of God they will see: What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus! Oh precious is that flow that makes me white as snow!




Monday, February 10, 2014

And He Pitched His Tent

We can read in our Bible of two men, both were righteous. One was Abraham and the other was Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew. They were also very rich men because God had blessed therm. They became so wealthy that they had to separate because of disputes and quarreling. In other words there was contention between the two households.  Abraham gave Lot the first choice of which way to go. Lot had much in his favor. He had riches and he was a righteous man, but the most important, he was blessed with Godly relatives. When a person is blessed with Godly relatives he is truly blessed.  Just like Lot we have to make choices.
Lot separated himself from Abraham and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Lot’s decision was made purely for carnal reasons rather than for spiritual reasons. Lot was making a choice that day. That choice was for personal gain. Like some people today, including some Christians, the greed for more wealth over took him and he set his eyes toward Sodom. Some Christians, in today’s world, have set their sight toward Sodom.
There is nothing wrong with Christian people being blessed by wealth but we should never take our eyes off of our spiritual values. With Lot Sodom was a good place to raise cattle and that was all he saw. As we all know Sodom lacked in spiritual values. It was sure not a good place to raise his family. Like Lot a lot of Christians today are more interested in the wealth and the money than they are the spiritual things, which is a bad mistake. Whenever a Christian puts his spiritual life on the back burner they are headed for trouble. Lot was thinking of paradise but found Hell!
The spiritual values of Lot were gone. He pitched his tent toward Sodom and then in another chapter we read that he was living in Sodom. He was having fellowship with those ungodly people and not only that his family was also lost for spiritual values. He had daughters that married ungodly men of Sodom. Lot’s Wife loved the things of Sodom and looked back. We all know what happen to her. Then Lot’s other daughters had sex with him and became pregnant. All this because Lot pitched his tent in the wrong direction. What a terrible high cost Lot paid for his decision to pitch his tent toward Sodom and it is a tragic example for all Christians to heed!
What a terrible high cost Lot paid for his decision and tragic example for all Christians to heed.



Thursday, December 5, 2013

As For My House

O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2)

Habakkuk knew that God was going to discipline the people of Judah for their sins and he also knew it was not going to be a good experience. The people turned from God and they were about to reap what they sowed. Habakkuk did not ask for the discipline to be removed but instead he asked for mercy and help from the Lord. He interceded for the people. He knew that they had to reap what they sowed but he prayed for God to have mercy. What a great man of God! What love that he had in his heart for the sinful people of that time!

Just as Habakkuk knew that God was going to discipline His people in that day, as Christians living in America in today’s world, we must know and realize that God will do the same in this age also. America will reap what she has sown. America as a whole cannot condone abortions or homosexuality as a life style and expect God to turn His head. America has turned her back on the One that made her a truly great nation and a leader of the free world. We have removed God from our schools, our court rooms, and from every part of our society. We have homosexuals behind some of the pulpits in our churches, we have homosexuals being married in our churches, and also joining our churches as members. Sin is not being preached anymore.


Do not think that nothing is going to happen or judgment from God will not come because it will. All through the Bible judgment came to countries that rebelled against God. America is no different.

As Habakkuk pleaded in his day in his day for the Lord to revive His work so should we plead and ask for Him to revive His work in our nation and in our people. Our nation needs God to survive. God’s judgment is coming on America soon because her sins are mounting up. Those of us that pray must intercede for God’s mercy on our nation and ask for our country to be restored. The answer is a simple one. It is the same as it was thousands of years ago. “
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray , and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV)
Famine, war, disobedience, plagues, and sickness are coming to America and she had better wake up.
I will soon reach my sixty eighth birthday and I have never seen America in the shape that it is in. What was sin 50 years ago and hid in the closets and bedroom of sinners is now in the open and called another life style.
The Cross and the meaning behind it is lost to most Americans. They live in a world without God and they will soon pay the price. Political Correctness is damning our country.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom , neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail , and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength (Habakkuk 3: 17-18)



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

When I See The Blood

 



And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye [are]: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy [you], when I smite the land of Egypt.

Without a doubt this has to be one of the most single over looked verses in the whole Bible, but one of the most important scripture in the whole Bible. It was not the self worthiness of the Hebrews, it was their faith in that blood. God did not say “when I see you, or, when I see your good works”, or “When I see how much money you have”, or when I see you being baptized in water or “When I see how important you are” nor did He say, “when I see where you go to church”, but He said “When I see the blood” 

Has the blood being applied to the door post of your heart? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Applying the Blood of Christ to your life is a very important matter just as it was for the Hebrews when they were in Egypt. The blood applied to the door post meant that the Hebrew’s faith and their trust were in the blood of that Lamb. The blood that was applied then, was meant to be a token of the ONE to come, a symbol of the one who would redeem mankind by the shedding of His life Blood. The Hebrews in that day were facing many hardships (as we are today) by the hands of the Egyptians. You do not have to read between the lines to see the hunger, hardship, sickness, and the poor quality of life that the Hebrews (God’s Children) were facing, and just the plain brutality of their Egyptian masters. The Hebrews had a hard life. But deliverance came! It was when they applied the blood.

It did not matter if the house was new, old, large, or small. The blood had to be applied to the door post. It did not matter how far they could trace their lineage back or if it was perfect, or they went to the synagogue often, or what religious ceremonies they took part in. All that mattered was applying that blood. The Hebrews may have not known much or understood of what was taken place, but this one thing they did know, if they were to be safe that night, the blood had to applied and that was all that mattered. The Blood of the lamb and the word of the Lord formed the foundation of the Hebrews peace and safety that night. All that were under the cover of that blood were made safe, just as it is now for all that are saved and under the cover of the precious blood of Jesus.

This story takes us to the very heart and true meaning of Christianity. It is the story and true meaning of the cross. We, as Christians, must see our full redemption in the blood of Jesus because our full redemption rest in that precious Blood. Our simple forgiveness of sin rest on that. We either trust it or we do not trust it.

If our nation wants deliverance, from the evil that has come upon it, then it should take a page out of the history that is found here. We must look to Jesus. The one who died on Calvary, long ago, and shed His Blood that we might be saved. We must apply the blood of Christ to our hearts and to the door post all across America, in our homes, schools, government buildings, our churches, because it is nothing but the blood of Jesus that can save us. What can wash away the sins of this nation? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!
Here is how you, this nation, and I can be safe and secure with all that alarms us. We can read in Revelations 12:11 this: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” We overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb! The blood on the door post was evidence of the Hebrews faith in that they were commanded to do it and they did it without question. To most people this would be a laugh, a joke, a fairy tail, But to a servant of God it means everything. That is the mindset of most people today. We can read in 1 Cor. 1:18 This: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

There were nine other plagues that befell Egypt and yet the Hebrews were still held captive by the Egyptians . Why was the last plague any different? It was different because it struck at the very heart of the Egyptian empire. You might ask how does all this tie into our present day problems that we have in this country and our salvation? We have had, in the last few years great floods that killed thousands and destroyed thousands of homes. Remember the Gulf Coast? We have had terrorist attacks on our cities that have killed thousands, we are experiencing a great recession that some are even calling a depression, earthquakes on the west coast, and many other disasters that have never been as bad, there is a very high unemployment rate, no work, people going hungry, but yet this country is still rebellious and rejects God. This is in no way a “Dooms Day” thought, but it is a warning to be ready. Soon there will be things that will strike at the very heart of this country. Make sure that you have the Precious Blood of the Lamb applied to your heart.

What ever the plague may be it will come and it may not take the first born as in Moses time but it will be just as bad and devastating. The only remedy is the “shed blood of the lamb of God”, His Son. It is the only remedy for sin. It is that the shed blood of Christ that gives perfect peace, divine righteousness, purges the conscience, and gives us our right and our title to receive all the joys, and glories of heaven. What a great feeling. What a great God.

You can believe it or not, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. It was good enough for my mother and father, uncles and aunts and it is good enough for me. What can wash away my sins (and yours) nothing but the blood of Jesus.










Thursday, November 7, 2013

Bible Prophecy

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And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

...'But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)

A person could ask what it was like in the days of Noah and all he would have to do is look around and see the same things are going on in the world today. Just look around and see for yourself. Wickedness is everywhere! Any true follower of Jesus Christ can truly see we are living in the time which our Lord talked and prophesied about. A time when the world would be in the same state as it was in the time of Noah. Soon the true followers Of Christ will be taken up out of this world and we will be saved from what is to come. Just as Noah found grace in the eyes of God so shall true believers find grace in the eyes of God.

The world for the most part has turned their backs on God and soon will reap the benefits of that decision. God will give everyone a chance to turn to Him with all their hearts, but if they choose to ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the warnings found in God's Word, then His spirit will be withdrawn and how true will the verse become that says ... 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.' (Revelation 22:11) People need to know that once the door to God’s mercy is closed, they who are holy will remain holy, and they who are filthy will remain filthy. How a tree falls so shall it lay.

Today, we find the majority of people in the world choosing the 'broad way' that leads to destruction, because the way to eternal life is too narrow for them. They say that you don't need to keep God's Commandments. The president of the United States said in a speech we are no longer a Christian nation and also in the same speech said some of the Bible is not for today. That is the first mistake because God changes not and forever His word is settled in Heaven. What was good for America room her beginning suddenly is no longer wanted. God have mercy on the people in America and turn them from their sinful ways.

Some leaders will tell you that we can worship God any way we like. They say that it is ok to like the things of this world. They will tell you that we need to include people from different faiths. We have Christians and Muslims worshiping in the same church and say they are worshipping the same god. Not So ! They will tell you that it is ok for homosexuals to take part in and lead church worship. Abortion (murder) has run ramped with millions of unborn babies being killed in the mother’s womb every year. Government leaders and many preachers from behind the pulpit say many things that are clearly contrary to the Word of God. Why is this? It is because these people walk after the flesh rather than the Spirit. Most people in today’s world have closed their hearts to the pleading and guiding of the Holy Spirit and they are heading for destruction. The continual indulgence in sin that existed in Noah's day exists today and even worse. Most people in the United States depend on their government to provide everything for them and some people even call the president “The messiah”. They have believed a lie and will be damned if there is no repentance. We need to look to God from whom our help comes from.

People who lived in Noah’s day disregarded the warnings from Noah and went on in their sinful lives as if nothing was going to happen. This is the same condition that we find in this world today. God's true people (the followers of Jesus Christ) around the world are forewarning and telling the rest of this world that the Day of Judgment is coming, and that all people should turn to God, repent and obey God by keeping His commandments. The majority of people are ignoring the warning signs, just like in the days of Noah. Most people are too blinded by the pleasures of this world to be able to read the signs of the time and to take heed God’s warning.

Are the professing Christians in this world studying Bible prophecy? Are the ministers behind the pulpits teaching prophecy? The answer is for the most part is no. Very few Christians are interested in Bible prophecy, and very few are searching the scriptures daily to find out the truth. Many are deceived into thinking that God's grace covers their living in sin. They will be in for a surprise.

Let us remember this, only 8 people were saved in the days of Noah, and Jesus said that only few will be saved in the end ......'Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.' Matthew 7:14

Oh I want to see Him, to look upon His face, There to live to live forever with the one who saved me by His grace!

Poem Sums it Up Quite Well.

The following is a poem written by Judge Roy Moore from Alabama . Judge Moore was sued by the ACLU for displaying the Ten Commandments in ...