Miracles are Messages

 His anointing working through y'all will break down barriers that seem to be holding back the progress of your church. Preach & teach about miracles.Testify every chance you have (in & out of the church) so that others will be encouraged and drawn to Jesus.

Miracles paved the way for the Word & for many to profess their faith in the Lord.  I believe in medicine & I believe in miracles.  Remember the time Jesus spit on the ground made mud, & put it on the eyes of the blind man? Mud/medicine was applied. The man followed  Christ's instruction to "go & wash...". He received sight. It caused a stir in the church. The religious mocked. But the healed one acknowledged Christ as his healer & believed on Him.

God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of bondage. In Exodus 33:14, God told Moses that His presence would go with him & that He would give Moses rest.

 

It is God's presence that will give you the rest that you need. It is not a far stretch to relate the "coming out of bonds of slavery" to the coming out from the confines of cancer/chemo.

It is my earnest prayer that His presence be as near to you as your very own breath. Yes, breath. He breathed into Adam and brought him to life. He breathed on the disciples and they received the power of the Holy Ghost. He breathed on the valley of dry bones & they came to life.

 

In His presence is the fullness of joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. His strength is perfected in our weakness. The weak can say I am strong in the Lord & in the power of His might.  And we are built upon the Rock & the gates of hell can not prevail against us.

 

You, Precious are in His tender care. No enemy, physical, spiritual, or other wise can take you away from His presence. When you haven't the strength to audibly praise, worship, or petition, He hears your heart's cry. And as an old song says, "tears are a language, God understands".

Deeper

"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Ephesians 3:16 KJV

His riches are infinite and no less is His supply of strength. The effects of any illness or problem can only be lessened by His power 

working in us. The drain of daily work, interactions with co-workers, bills and how to pay them, the caring for sick family members, 

and etc can only be countered by the rivers of living waters that He so graciously supplies.  

While I have no need to remind you of the power of the Holy Spirit, I am driven to make the following statement: Now, is not the time to just float lazily in the pool. Get into His river of life giving waters. It is time to pray in the Spirit. 

Immerse yourselves in the flow of the Holy Ghost. Leave the shallows of the shore. Dive deeper into His Word. Let His Word and 

His Spirit flow over you, in you, and through you.

Naaman sought for one thing; to be cleansed of the leprosy. He had only one request. His answer came with one act of obedience. to a dip, a 

Our petitions are not limited. As a matter of fact, our prayer requests multiply daily. We even have needs that we can not put into words.

Therefore, it is imperative that we are consistently obedient to constantly immerse ourselves in the Living Waters.

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.: Ephesians 6:18 KJV

Step into the water,
Wade out a little bit deeper.
Wet your feet in the water of his love.
Ohh Step into the water (children)
Wade out a little bit deeper,
Come join angels singin',
Praises to the Lamb of God.
It's time we the people,
Stand up for what is right.
It's time we squared our shoulders back,
And raised our swords to fight.
For the Bible is our weapon,
And the spirit is my sheild.
The church needs more of its members to be workers in the field.
There is victory for the christian,
Who walks the narrow way.
There has been a prize appointed,
For the soul who does not stray.
Oh I want to live for Jesus,
Be all that I should be.
So that I can rest with him forever,
Live eternally.

Written by Kirk Talley

Sermon Too Long? Not Really

Have you ever fussed about being in church for a couple of hours or thought the sermon lasted too long? Sure you have. I have too. Just basic complaints borne out of our flesh. There are many excuses as to why we are disgruntled, but I would like to submit the following as a reason why we give way to complaining. It is because our natural ears are open but our spiritual eyes are closed, and our hearts are cold. 

Let's take a look at what happened as Jesus joined some fellows as they walked for two to three hours down the Emmaus Road. Luke 24:13-35 says these two men were discussing the events of the past three days. They were in a quandary about what would happen now that Jesus (the one they expected to be the Messiah) was dead.  

They described Jesus in fleshly terms, based on their "head knowledge" of him. They said, he was a prophet, miracle worker, and mighty teacher  vs19. They had hoped that he would be the messiah of Israel vs 21. Yet, he was crucified, buried, and now his body was missing vs 24.

Before Jesus reveals Himself to them, He calls them fools or unwise, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken vs 25. In other words, they were depending solely upon their fleshly understanding of what had taken place. Then He proceeds to expound upon all the scriptures that were written concerning himself. 

While I know that it takes the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual understanding, it takes faith to receive and act upon that understanding. It was during this two to three hour journey, that their faith was being built. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. They could not have heard it any better than hearing the incarnate Word declare it to them directly.  

As the narrative continues, we read how they compelled Jesus to go home with them. A meal was prepared. And as Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened. Jesus vanished. They became evangelists who went back to Jerusalem proclaiming/confirming that Jesus had risen from the dead.

The preaching of the Gospel is the breaking of the Bread of Life. If we will but receive it by faith and allow our eyes to be opened; our minds will be illuminated and our hearts will be set on fire for God. Then, we will set ourselves about fulfilling the Great Commission, telling the world that Jesus saves.

Additional notes:

"burn" same Greek word as "light" a candle  in Matthew 5:15  per Strong's Concordance 

Burn- start a fire, creation of light, illuminate

Their hearts burned within them as Jesus OPENED the scriptures/WORD. Yet, they only acknowledged the "burning" after their eyes were opened.

They were walking with the living Word.... the living Word was speaking to them...sharing the written Word (John 1:1) 

In the KJV as per translation from the Greek, "opened" is the same word in vs 31 as it is in vs 32.

*Average walking speed is 2.5 to 3 mph. The distance between Jerusalem and Emmaus was approximately 7 miles.

Post resurrection times that Jesus reveals Himself around the table, breaking bread Luke 24:41-43. John 21:9-15 , Acts 1:1-9 (during 40 days prior to ascension).

While They Slept

Every where you look, you see or hear something related to this "holiday" called, Easter. While there is so much wrong with the commercialization of it, there is everything RIGHT about the Bible account of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Read about it in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John chapter 18. These passages are rich with principles that we need to apply to our lives daily. 

One such principle: When Jesus says, "watch & pray", WE NEED TO WATCH & PRAY! The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, & Luke, all record Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying three times. All three times, He returns to his closest friends (Peter, James, & John) and finds them sleeping.

When we sleep (I'm talking about spiritually sleeping) , we MISS out on opportunities to labor (bear burdens) with Jesus. We MISS sharing in His sufferings, which causes us to  lack in sharing His glory. We MISS what Christ models as true intercession. 

Not only do we miss out on important things, we open ourselves up to be tempted. When we are spiritually asleep, we let down our guard, we leave the door open, and basically welcome the enemy to come and rob us blind. 

We are truly living in perilous times. We can not survive without the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have the power of the Holy Ghost in order to keep our spirits and minds alert for the devil's attacks as well as prepared for opportunities to labor for the cause of Christ.

As Sunday approaches, we are preparing to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. However, there would be no resurrection with out the cross. My prayer is this, "Lord, help me to crucify my flesh so that I will  live the life that you bought for me on Calvary."

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

Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 18

An Agent of Healing

 Thinking I had given adequate time to the Good Samaritan narrative, I turned my attention to a different thoroughfare; the road to Emmaus. However, that will have to wait; for the Lord has continued to bring the Good Samaritan to my mind/heart.

 "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." Luke 10:33,34 KJV

In general, wine is a liquid that can be made from most any fruit, but most commonly made from grapes. It is consumed as a beverage, poured on like cleansing agent, applied as an antiseptic, used as a base for an elixir, and in large quantities will dull the senses. Primitive cultures use it medicinally and others serve it with meals as we would serve iced tea. 

From cooking oil to massage oil, olive oil has millions of uses. In biblical times, it was used as fuel for lamps. Today, it can still be found listed as an ingredient in custom made candles. It's consistency makes it an excellent medium for herbal enhanced salves. As for it's fat content, it is considered as a "healthy" fat to be included in our diets. 

Scripture makes no mention of the Good Samaritan going to buy wine and oil. This tells me that he had those items with him for his personal use. Perhaps the wine was to refresh him on his journey or it could have been a part of his "first aid kit". Same could be said of the oil. He may have planned to use it to soothe his sunburned skin or fuel a lamp, once the darkness came. At any rate, it was his and he freely gave it to the wounded traveler.

Giving what we have to help heal another, is what being Christ-like is all about. Material things help. Yet, giving of the spiritual gifts that we possess, will bring eternal benefits. Today, I want to encourage you to stir up the gifts within you. Apply the oil/Balm of Gilead  to the wounded. Proclaim the wine/blood of Jesus as the cure for the sin filled life. Expound upon the scriptures that speak of the "new wine", the Spirit-filled life. Be that Good Samaritan in this world of "priests and levites".