THIS ISN'T "LET'S MAKE A DEAL"

Contrary to popular opinion, (both in AND out of the church), God does not play, "Let's Make a Deal", nor is HE Burger King.  He doesn't trade one thing for another and HE doesn't serve everything up "our" way.  
If you have gone to God begging for one thing or another, health, job, money, etc. and have been blessed enough to get that prayer answered. It is NOT because you promised God you would go to church, or promised Him you would read your Bible more or pray more.  It could be for a number of reasons but it is NOT through anything you did that God blessed your life or someone else's life other than you prayed and hopefully you believed.  But even if you had a few doubts and God came through for you, that's just God.  More than likely He answered that prayer for you already knowing that you only meant what you said because you were desperate or scared.  More than likely He answered that prayer for you to let you know how faithful HE is, even if you aren't.  To show you how much HE loves you even if you don't show Him.
How many "deals" have you made with God lately?  How many of your bargains have you kept?  I don't just mean a day or couple of days, I mean diligently trying to do what you told Him you would do. I know about this "Let's make a Deal" game, I played it in the past myself.  Until one day God spoke to my heart and convicted my Spirit and I totally gave my life to Him.  I realized that He had done far more for me than I could ever repay even IF He DID play the game.  

There is NOTHING I can exchange for Jesus giving His life for me.  NO deal I can make sweeter than the gift of Salvation that God gives.  NOTHING to compare to living in Eternity with God the Father and Jesus the Son.  NOTHING.

If you've made some bargains with God lately, now is the time to say, "Father, please forgive me for I truly did not know what I was doing".  Now is the time to say, "God is able to save us but, no matter what, I will serve Him".  As Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo said before walking into the fiery furnace.  "Even if God doesn't save us, we will NOT deny Him, we will not serve other gods". (paraphrase)
Daniel 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 [a]If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; [b]and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

What has God done for you lately?  Things you haven't even asked for: 1) let you wake up this morning, 2) A roof over your head, 3) food on your table, 4) the internet if you are reading this right now, even if it is free internet at the library.  

I'm just trying to show that God blesses us each and every day but it won't always be this way.  Now we get to the serious business.  Many of you, especially if you are my age, have heard parents, grandparents talk about the tribulation and the second coming of the Lord.  Unfortunately OUR children have not heard it enough and their children?? Their children probably haven't heard it at all.  Unless it's from you or they are blessed enough to be in a good God fearing, Bible believing church with a Pastor that preaches the truth of God's Word.  

This to my children's generation:  If you do not raise your children in church and to believe, worship and honor God, do not expect them to do those things when they grow up.
Proverbs 22:6 (NASB) has this to say:  6 Train up a child [a]in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Notice it says, "train up a child in the way he should go" first.  They have to have something to go back to or not depart from.  You are not doing them a favor by not teaching them about God when they are young.  Another thing you must keep in mind is that children learn more by observing than by being told.  In other words, they mimic what you do whether you want them to or not.  When they are grown their thoughts will be, well it wasn't important to my parents so it must not be that big of a deal.  
Remember that while they are small YOU are responsible for their teaching.  YOU will be held accountable on judgement day for your part in teaching them about God.  If you did not make God a priority in their childhood, HE won't be a priority in their adult life.

Here we are back to playing "Let's Make a Deal" again.  God please save my child, please heal them.  I'll do anything, I'll pray more, I'll read my Bible more, I'll go to church more, I'll take them to church".  Sound familiar?  We have probably all done it at one time or another. We have responsibility, Salvation is free but we can't take it and run, it isn't a one time thing, it's a lifelong process.  I'm not saying God won't bless you, I'm just saying we need to quit playing "christian", quit playing church and start living for God, before it's too late.  Quit playing the "Let's Make A Deal" game and start truly serving and loving God, then even though we are not promised an easy life, you WILL see constant evidence of God in your life, you won't have to go to Him with empty promises, you will go to Him in complete faith and watch His faithfulness unfold.

Isaiah 29:13 (NASB)
13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their [a]words
And honor Me with their [b]lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their [c]reverence for Me [d]consists of [e]tradition learned by rote,
(PARAPHRASED:  Because people say they love Him and say they will do anything for Him but it's only lip service and doesn't come from the heart because the heart is far removed from Him.  Their reverence and honor consists of the traditions they have been taught and not for true love and worship of God.)

Don't Shoot the Messenger

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB)¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)¹⁵ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I have to say, it's not easy preaching and teaching the truth!!  I see friends on facebook growing in their relationship with the Lord, learning the truths of the Bible and throwing out the teachings of man that they have grown up with their whole life and I am so THANKFUL.  I thank God for each and everyone that will pray, study, fast, read and pray some more for God to reveal the truth to them and then accept it when HE does!!  Many times God plants a seed through some small something that another person says or HE plants a thought in our minds.  Because of free will, it is then up to us to do something with it.  My heart breaks for those who follow after men, whether it be t.v. Evangelists or their own church Pastor, OR their dad or granddad or uncle etc.  No one, let me repeat, no one will make it into the Kingdom of God based on their relationship with their pastor or any other man.  You cannot follow man and God, you can learn some things from man but if it doesn't line up with Scripture, it's not correct. 

Here is why the title says, "Don't Shoot the Messenger":  When God lays it on someone's heart to pray and search the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit teaches them something, IF they obey God, they do not keep that information to themselves.  IF they have the love of Christ in them, they do not keep that information to themselves.  IF they are truly concerned and love their neighbor as themselves, they do not keep that information to themselves.  They are a messenger, they are the person at that moment that the Holy Spirit has pointed towards truth.  Our job is not to immediately discredit them, slander them, destroy or expose them, etc.  If we are truly a Child of God, we will search the Scriptures, pray and ask God if it's truth, not toss it out because our Pastor doesn't agree or didn't preach it.

Now listen to me carefully, please.  I am not saying that you should be "tossed about by every wind of doctrine".  I am saying that everything we have been taught from childhood is NOT necessarily the truth.  We HAVE to pray, search the scriptures and make sure what we are hearing or reading lines up with the Word of God.  IF what you are reading or hearing does NOT line up with the Word of God, then you can expose false witness, BUT be careful that you search the scriptures and make sure it doesn't line up with it.  Make sure you aren't kicking against something you've just "always been taught".

If we are going to get anywhere in our relationship with God, we have got to "come out of the world".  We have got to get out of doctrine and into God's truth.  We've got to stop believing everything we hear and read and study to show our own selves approved.  Sometimes learning the truth will also be backed up with other research materials, i.e. Sunday observation, where did it come from?, Easter, Christmas, The Pre-Rapture theory.  Not only are these NOT Biblical but you can find through History where these things began and how they came about being celebrated.  I am just listing those few but there are many more things we have been taught to believe come from the Lord only to find out if we study them out that they actually were created by man.

I am just a messenger, but shoot me if you must!  Until then I will keep revealing what the Holy Spirit reveals to me.  To those who are willing to learn, God bless you, continue your search and prayer.  To those who are not willing and get angry when the lies are exposed, I will pray for you and I still love you, so does God. 

All I ask is prayer, that I will continue to pray, fast, seek God and be led by the Lord and the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Prayer that I will stand for the truth and not fall for anything!  I pray the same for you.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) ¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) ¹⁵ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Love you all and God bless you all,

Another Messenger

A Clean Heart

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

I love this Psalm!  Of course, I love all the Psalms, Proverbs, Acts etc.  I have more favorite verses in the Bible than favorite foods and that's saying A LOT as anyone who knows me well can tell you!  

Have you ever thought about what you are asking when you pray this Psalm?  I ask God daily sometimes more than once a day to create in me a clean heart, just being honest.  Little things cross my mind that I have no idea are coming - as the saying goes they just come out of left field.  This is the biggest reason I ask God to cleanse my heart because "out of the heart, the mouth speaks".  It can also be said, "out of the heart the brain thinks"!  Just because it doesn't come out your mouth does not mean it's okay!  The Bible says "as a man thinks in his heart, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7 if you want to read the entire verse).  To paraphrase, to think it is the same as to do it.  So back to what we are asking when we ask God to give us a clean heart... hopefully we are asking Him to make all our thoughts as well as our actions clean.  This is what I'm asking when I ask God to give me a clean heart.  I want a heart that is pure, I want a heart that is pleasing to God, not to me although that's a benefit, not to my family, boss, preacher, etc. but to God.  Because He knows me, He knows the inner most, deepest thoughts I have, while others do not.  God sees into that deepest, blackest part of me.  The part I wish even I couldn't see.  That part that brings up those bad thoughts, bad words, reactions that I have to immediately repent for.  Now, I know I'm only talking about me, cuz I know no one else does this, right?

Here's the thing about asking God for a clean heart though.  You have to be willing to let go and let God do the cleaning.  

You can't hang on to the past and have a clean future.  

You can't harbor resentment against one person while asking God to help you forgive another.

You can't hold on to the hurts of the past.

but here is what you CAN do:

You can ask God into ever little piece of your heart and mind.

You can trust Him to do exactly what you ask Him to do.

You can let go of resentment and forgive everyone, it's your choice.

You can have a clean heart and a clean future.

If you are truly willing to let it all go.

The only can'ts in your life are those things you refuse to do.  The Bible says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", Phil. 4:13.  ALL things, not just some, that means you CAN have a clean heart.  A heart that is pleasing to God and will be pleasing to you also.  That doesn't mean things won't pop up from time to time that you have to ask forgiveness for but it does lessen the likelihood.  Take a moment to ask God, God please create in me a clean heart.  Help me to be someone I would want to know and be friends with!  Help me to radiate your glory so that others want what I have, which is You.  By seeing me others can see You and want to draw close to You.  Thank You Lord in advance because I know "whatever I ask in Jesus name" you will grant and I ask right now, in Jesus name.

The Safe Choice or The Right Choice

Not always the same thing.

Joshua 24:15 (King James Version)

 ¹⁵And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
We make choices every single day, sometimes several times a day.  Do we make the right choice?  Sometimes yes, maybe a lot of times no.  But this one choice, who we will serve will set the course for our entire lives.  Not a choice to be taken lightly although many do.  
Time really is getting short.  We have heard that all our lives but we are living in a time when WE are seeing prophecy fulfilled right now!  Now is the time for us to make the "right" choice, although in this world, it isn't the safe choice in the natural.  But in the supernatural, it makes the difference between this world being the only one you get and the promise of everlasting life.  So in reality it becomes not only the right choice but also the safe choice.  It's planning for the future, better than any 401k plan offered in the world today.
In the book of Acts, Stephen had a choice to make.  The choice he made was the right choice but it wasn't the safest choice at the time.  As we know from reading the Bible, he was stoned to death for choosing Jesus.
Daniel, was thrown into the lion's den for worshipping God.  Again, the right choice but not the safe choice (on the surface).  However, he knew that God would take care of him either way.  Even if the lions ripped him from limb to limb, he knew God was still God!  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo when they were facing the fiery furnace said (paraphrase) that even if they were burned up, God would still be God and they would not serve a false god.  In all the cases, they made the right choice but it didn't appear to be the safe choice.
Even Jesus had a choice!  Sometimes we forget that.  We forget that He was Lord, at anytime He could have said enough!  He made a choice.  The right choice because what all of the above knew was that not only did it affect their destiny but it affected each one of ours.  Their strength gives us strength.  
Luke Chapter 9 talks about two men who wanted to follow Jesus - one wanted to go bury his dead, the other wanted to go back and bid his family farewell.They had to make a choice.  It wasn't an easy choice, it wasn't a safe choice.  Certainly the apostles suffered many things for Jesus, but it was the right choice.  
Every choice in life that we make sets in motion a ripple effect, with far reaching consequences.  What we choose to do or say in each situation we face impacts our entire lives AND the lives of others whether we believe that or not.

Proverbs 1:22-33 (King James Version)

 ²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?  

 ²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  

 ²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;  

 ²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:  

 ²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  

 ²⁷When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  

 ²⁸Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  

 ²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:  

 ³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  

 ³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  

 ³²For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  

 ³³But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Simply put, we WILL reap what we sow.  However, vs 33 says we shall dwell "safely" if we hearken to the Lord!  If we choose the wrong path, we will suffer the consequences.  If we choose the right way, to follow the Lord, we will reap the rewards and the blessings.  He WILL sustain us.  So the right choice IS the SAFE choice after all!

That doesn't mean we won't have trials and tribulations but it does mean we don't have to face them alone.  It does mean we have a faithful God who will sustain us.  We don't have to praise for our trials but we need to praise "through" our trials.  Knowing they will only last for a little while.

We have to be sure that the choices we make are the right choices and not just "choices that seem right".  Proverbs 14:12 and again in 16:25 says that there is a way that seems right to man but in the end leads to death.  That's why it's so important to pray over our choices and then wait upon the Lord.  God gives us freedom of choice, He will never force our will.  

There are many choices for life, but for eternity, there are only two!

Heaven or hell is a choice for right now, not for later, not for someday but for today.  We are not promised our next breath, we are but a vapor.  The Bible says there is a time appointed for all of us, only God knows that time.

Choose ye THIS day whom you will serve.

God bless,

til next time

TawanaB
(1st one Dec. 2009)

Choices - Which Way Do I Go

We all make hundreds maybe thousands of choices everyday beginning from the time we wake up in the morning until we fall asleep at night. Many are made without much conscious thought, like swinging our legs off the bed after we have decided to get up. The first choice we make in the morning: Do we get up or do we lay in bed and sleep a while longer?

Before we make that choice though, we should take a moment to thank God for (to quote my husband), "the precious breath of life", and we should choose WHOM we are going to serve that day. Before we get up every morning we should make a conscious choice- today I will serve God. Ask Him to help You serve Him this day and deliver you from temptation and the snares of the devil. You will be pleasantly surprised at how it will change your whole perspective for the day. (I didn't say it would change circumstances, I said it would change your perspective).

Let's discuss some other choices. We don't want to do wrong and we don't want to cause others to do wrong, so how can we make these choices?

If we choose one course of action:

1) Does it help our witness for Christ? (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)

2) Are we motivated by a desire to help others know Christ? (1 Corinthians 9:23, 10:33)

3) Does it help us do our best? (1 Corinthians 9:25)

4) Does the choice go against a specific command in scripture and result in causing us to sin?

(1 Corinthians 10:12)

5) Is it the best, most beneficial choice? (1 Corinthians 10:23, 33)

6) Are we thinking only of ourselves or do we truly care about other people? (1 Corinthians 10:24)

7) Are we acting lovingly or selfishly? (1 Corinthians 28:31)

8) Does it glorify God? (1 Corinthians 10:31)

9) Will it cause someone else to sin? (1 Corinthians 10:32)

10) Have we truly prayed - "Lord lead us not into temptation but deliver us from (all) evil (and all appearance of evil)? (parenthesis and italics mine)

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

God gives us all free will, however, he also gave us an instruction manual to live righteously and gloriously through Him. The first choice is to accept it, to read it, to follow it, to live it. It is just as relavent today as it was when it was being written. I hear a lot of people say, "this is 2010, it doesn't apply now". That's so far from the truth, every precept in the Bible can be applied to our lives today. As Jesus said on the mount, "nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will".

I leave you with these scriptures and pray God blesses you and and gives you integrity and wisdom in your choices today.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I'm far from perfect and I make bad choices everyday, sometimes I have to ask God to forgive me but the one choice I have made is to follow Him.

His servant-tawanab

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

If I say I love you....

John 4:20-21..20) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

It is easy to say we love God when it doesn't cost us anything more than weekly attendance in church. The real test is how we treat the people in front of us--our family, fellow believers, our neighbors. We cannot fully love God while neglecting to love those created in His image.

Love is a choice - an action.

John said "God is love" NOT "love is God". The world has turned the word love into a selfish and shallow word. The world thinks love is what makes you feel good and is willing to sacrifice even their own moral principles and those of others to obtain such love. That is selfishness, not real love!! Jesus is our example of real love. Read 1 Chorinthians 13:4-7.

Our society confuses love with lust. Unlike lust, God's kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves. It is totally unselfish. This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations. It is possible only if God helps us set aside our own desires and instincts so that we can give love while expecting nothing in return. Thus, the closer we come to Christ the more love we will show to others. Jesus is our example of real love. God is the source of our love, He loved us enough to sacrifice everything for us. He sees inside our hearts and loves us anyway. This is the way we should love. If God who created us can love us through (inspite of) our sins, who are we not to love one another "inspite of" our differences, "inspite of" what we perceive their actions or words to show us about them.

I've heard people say they've "tried" to love so and so but they just can't because they act like hypocrites or they lie or they don't do this or don't do that. It isn't up to us to judge. God doesn't instruct us to judge, in fact, He instructs us to "judge not". Luke 6:37, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive and ye shall be forgiven. God instructs us to love, He gave His only son, the supreme sacrifice to die for those very sins in all of us that we so easily point out in others but don't see in ourselves. Luke 6: 41, And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? When Jesus died on the cross, He didn't say, "this is for Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not for John, Peter and Tawana", He died for ALL, so that we ALL could be forgiven. Remember His words in John 13:34, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Love is a choice - Christ "chose" to love us.

How well do you display your love for God in the choices you make and the actions you take?

1 John 4:16-17 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17) Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world.

Thank you

pray for the peace of Israel

God bless

TawanaB