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WALKING WITH YESHUA

Thank you and God bless.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6

Sometimes followers of Jesus need help to get back on track spiritually.

We may intentionally veer off course because we think we know best, or drift away slowly, failing to notice we are moving further and further from the walk God wants with us.

God has not left us on our own, however He has given all believers the Holy Spirit as Jesus told His disciples: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) And who convicts us of our sin: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: – However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:8, 13).

When we are going off course, the Holy Spirit sounds the alarm and triggers our conscience (Galatian 5:16-25). We may ignore the warning, but we do so to our own detriment: “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10 and Galatians 6:8).

What comfort it is to know that God is at work in our lives though the convicting work of the Holy Spirit! “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

We need to remember that we are never without a Helper, because we have the Spirit within; and with God’s help and guidance, we can continue on a path that is pleasing to Him.

Source: Randy Kilgore – Our Daily Bread

I. Pray and ask God to reveal His perfect will to you, unconditionally surrender your desires, plans and life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The promise:  “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

II. Ask God to guide you to scriptures in His Holy Word that will provide you with the answers that He has already prepared for you. He will give you direct guidance for a decision that will honor Him. We must be careful that we do not read only those verses that will support our desires or point of view; but, keep our mind open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

III. Seek counsel from godly advisors, who are living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

IV. Ask God to provide the circumstances that will confirm His will for your decision. It is important that we do not manipulate the circumstances ourselves.

V. Be willing to let Him make the decision, accept His answer and thank Him for His guidance and care.

VI. Trust God completely and surrender your will to His Lordship.

VII. Apply the first six principles diligently, ask God to confirm His choice for you, by giving you peace and confidence. Worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and thank Him for His loving care and guidance.

With so many decisions to make in life these days, it is important to know how to make decisions that honor God. Through prayer we can have God’s help in making the right choices.

How can we make the right choices? Pray before we make a choice. Pray, so that you’ll know what to do
or whom to choose. Always seek God’s guidance.

“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” Luke 6:12-13 NKJV – Jesus knew exactly whom God was calling to be His apostles.

Prayer preceded all that Jesus said and did. He prayed to the Father before He made choices or took action.
Jesus got it right 100% of the time.

He said of Himself, “I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19 When we give prayer the same priority Jesus gave, we will also see what the Father does and we will hear what He wants to communicate to us.

Jesus’ ministry was founded on prayer, faith and obedience. Our lives and ministry to God and to others will have to be founded on prayer too. If we are going to follow Jesus, we’re going to have to follow Him in prayer, faith and obedience.

In Proverbs we are given very specific counsel about seeking Gods’ will and guidance before making decisions. When we seek God’ counsel we have His promise, that He will direct us if we acknowledge His Lordship over our lives. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5 – 6 NKJV

S.T.O.P.
    SURRENDER: OUR WILL AND DESIRES
                              TRUST: GOD COMPLETELY
                                              OBEY: WITHOUT HESITATION
                                                            PRAY: WITH FAITH AND THANKFULNESS

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2)

As Christ emphasized in His parable of the vine and the branches, it is vitally important for a Christian to bear fruit. There are, in fact, many types of spiritual fruit mentioned in Scripture.

Perhaps the most important fruit, produced in one’s life by the Holy Spirit, is that of a Christ-like character. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23). “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).

Holiness – the seal of a life dedicated to God – is a particular spiritual fruit. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22) and are “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Philippians 1:11). This entails also the fruit of good works performed in the name of Christ, “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

The habit of giving thanks and praise rather than complaint and criticism is a valuable Christian fruit. “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15). Generosity is another important fruit. Paul commended the sacrificial giving of the Philippians: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account” (Philippians 4:17).

Finally, one vital fruit of a Christian witness is fruit borne in other Christians’ lives. Paul’s great desire was “that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles” (Romans 1:13).

SOURCE: Henry Morris, Ph.D. – Institute for Creation Research

After a short sham trial, Iran has convicted American Pastor Saeed Abedini – a U.S. citizen – and sentenced him to eight years in one of Iran’s most brutal and deadly prisons – merely because he is a Christian.

Iran has violated Pastor Saeed’s human rights, violated its own constitution, and violated multiple international treaties and covenants that it voluntarily and willingly signed.

May God have mercy on this pastor and keep him safe while he is in dire danger.

Let us join in prayer that God opens up his cell like he did for the Apostle Paul and Silas (Acts 16) and he is let free and unharmed.

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:2) 

Some claim that the Old Testament knows nothing of a resurrection, but this promise of God clearly refutes such a notion. Not only will some be raised to everlasting life, but some to everlasting shame and contempt! 

What a bitter end this will be for those who now look with contempt upon the Bible. The Hebrew word translated “contempt” is used only one other time, in the very last verse of Isaiah, but is there translated ‘abhorring.’ “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me.

For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24). 

There is probably no doctrine of the Bible more hated by unbelievers than the doctrine of everlasting punishment. It was this teaching (not the imaginary evidence for evolution) that turned Charles Darwin away from God. Nevertheless, it was verified by Christ Himself. “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire: Where . . . the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48).  

Christ will say to the “goats” on His left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41, 46).  

Paul also warned that those who “on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).  

Everlasting contempt, everlasting fire, everlasting punishment, everlasting destruction, these await all who reject God and His saving word, through Christ.  

How much better to “awake to everlasting life!”  

SOURCE: Institute for Creation Research by Henry Morris, Ph.D.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:2-8)

As a Christian what do we do when we do not know what to do?

In his letter to the early Christians James writes to encourage them in their faith during the difficult times they were experiencing. He doesn’t say if you face trials, but whenever you face them. He knows that we will have trials and that it is possible to learn from them. The point is not to pretend to be happy when we face pain, but to have a positive outlook “consider it all joy” because of what trials can produce in our lives. James tells us to turn our hardships into times of learning. Tough times can teach us perseverance, which is also called patience and determination in (Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 6:3-7; 2 Peter 1:2-9).

We can not really know the depth of our character until we see how we react under pressure. It is easy to be kind to others when everything is going well, but can we continue to be kind when others are treating us unfairly? God wants to make us mature and complete, not to keep us from all pain. Instead of complaining about our struggles, we should see them as opportunities for growth. Thank God for promising to be with you in rough times. Ask Him to help you solve your problems or to give you the strength to endure them. Then be patient and have faith because God will not leave you alone with your problems; He will stay close and help you grow.

In verse 5 when James talks about wisdom, he is talking not only about knowledge, but about the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances. Whenever we need wisdom, we can pray to God, and He will generously supply what we need. Christians do not have to grope around in the dark, hoping to stumble upon answers. We can ask for God’s wisdom to guide our decisions.

Wisdom means practical discernment. It begins with respect for God which leads to correct living, and results in increased ability to tell right from wrong.

God is willing to give us the wisdom, but we will be unable to receive it if our goals are self-centered instead of God-centered. To learn God’s will we need to read His Word and ask Him to show us how to obey it and then we must do what He tells us.

To “believe and not doubt” means not only believing in the existence of God, but also believing in His loving care. It includes relying on God and expecting that He will hear and answer when we pray. We must put away our critical attitude when we come to Him. God does not grant every inconsiderate or selfish request and we must have confidence that God will align our desires with His purposes.

A mind that wavers “for the one who doubts” is not completely convinced that God’s way is best. It treats God’s Word like any human advice, and it retains the option to disobey. It vacillates between allegiance to personal feeling, the world’s ideas and God’s commands. If you faith is new, weak, or you are struggling remember that you can trust God and be loyal to Him. To stabilize your wavering or doubtful mind, commit yourself wholeheartedly to God.

If you have ever seen the constant rolling of huge waves at sea, you know how restless they are, being subjected to the forces of wind, gravity and tide. Doubt leaves a person as unsettled as the restless waves. If you want to stop being tossed about, rely on God to show you what is best for you. Ask Him for wisdom, and trust that He will give it to you. Then your decisions will be positive and solid.

Remember that when we ask in faith, the Lord is faithful to answer.

Source: Excerpts taken from the “Life Application Bible”

Jesus is the source of all joy. It is impossible to have a joyful marriage and a peace filled home until we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

God created Adam and Eve to live in His presence every moment of their lives; living in God’s presence is the only way to have a normal life.

Two people who are living together cannot have a normal marriage or life, until they surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Many people think that they can run their home and marriage in their own strength – without Jesus being the center of their lives.

Most people will experience failure and disappointment before they realize that they will never have a joyful, fulfilling marriage and home life, unless they invite Jesus to become the Lord of their lives and homes.

Millions of people live together in homes where God’s love and joy is not present, their lives are like polluted cisterns; the refreshing, joyful, life giving presence of God is not important to them. They are living in an empty, futile, unhappy rut – a rut is simply a grave with the ends knocked out.

They trudge back and forth in this rut that they call life, and they never really live or see the Light.

The couple who prays together, stays together – Satan and all of the forces of hell cannot inflict permanent damage to the family and home where Jesus is Lord; the presence of Jesus, our Great, Warrior King is actively protecting His children with peace and joy. From that home “Rivers of living water will continually flow.”

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

When Jesus is Lord in a home He is the Light of that home – His light brings joy, peace, hope and fulfillment.
“Put your trust in the Light while you have it, so that you may become sons of Light.” John 12:36

Many people choose to reject the Light, live in their rut, stumble around in darkness and never enjoy the exciting, wonderful, normal life that God has made available to them.

God informs us in the Bible that the only people who are normal are those people who have made Jesus the Lord of their lives. If Jesus is not the Lord of our lives, our lives will be abnormal; if He is not Lord, our marriages and homes will be abnormal.

Many people are like blind, prisoners; Jesus wants to set them free and make their homes a haven of joy, love and peace. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

Jesus promised: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:38

Our homes and marriages will be filled with respect, joy, peace and love when we have His refreshing presence flowing into and through our lives.

Jesus has told us in His Word; “without Me you can do nothing.” But, He has also promised us that we can “be filled with all of the fullness of God and that God will do more for us than we can ask or imagine.” Ephesians Chapter 3

We pray that the Lord will richly bless you as you invite Him to fill your home with His overflowing love, holiness and peace.

David Russell

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:4-7)

What brings fear into our life? Many people are afraid of darkness, others of their failing health or getting old. Then others are afraid of being poor or harmed physically. And there are many that are fearful of death.

So how do we deal with fear? Should we fear? If so, then what kind of fear should we have? Our verses answer these questions.

Amazingly, Jesus tells us that worldly fear is something we need not be concerned about, instead, what we should fear is God because He is our Sovereign Lord.

Jesus is addressing those he considers as His friends and He is telling them not to be afraid of those who want to harm or destroy the body.

People during Jesus’ time were afraid of what the Scribes and Pharisees were capable of doing to them because some feared being put out of the synagogue (John 9:22 & John 12:42) and not have a means for living and supporting themselves. And others were put to death like Steven for being true to the Lord. (Acts 7:54-8:2)

Jesus said not to be in fear of these people – for once they destroyed the body, they could do nothing else to harm the person, since the body of those who believed in Christ would sleep in Jesus, and be raised on resurrection morning, and be united to their soul, and be forever with the Lord. Therefore, Christ’s disciples have nothing to be anxious about, because “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)

As Jesus continues He warns them in verse 5: “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” Worldly fear is nothing but Godly fear is everything! Man destroying the body can do nothing else to it, but God will judge all of us and will send the unbeliever to the lake of fire for eternity because “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

We need to be aware of what Hebrew 9:27 says: “… It is appointed unto men to die once and after this comes judgment.” And the consequences for the unbeliever are found in Revelation 20:11-15: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

In verses 6-7 Jesus asks, “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Sparrows in Jesus’ times were a cheap commodity, almost valueless, yet, God does not forget “one of them.” So how much more valuable are we than sparrows?

Jesus says here, that every hair on a person’s head is numbered. If God is so minutely aware of those details, then don’t you think that He is aware of all that transpires within your life?

So the question is: What do you fear?

Non-believers should be very fearful because: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”
Hebrews 10:31. On the other hand the Bible tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 111:10) and the fear of God begins by recognizing our own sin and fearing the consequences which is death and eternal separation from God. The person that has not accepted Jesus as His Savior needs to turn to the Savior because He took the punishment upon Himself that our sin deserved and died an excruciating death on the cross. We need to trust in Him and repent before it is too late, because none of us know when our life ends.

Jesus speaks these words to give peace to His followers. They are those who fear God, and are given the assurance of His love, guidance and comfort no matter what is happening in their lives.

Remember that God cares about us in the deepest way. Sparrows have enjoyed their existence since their creation, under the protection of God’s providence, but we “are of more value than many sparrows.”

To all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

John gives us the marvelous promise of God that anyone who receives Christ will be born again and enters the family of God. This is a spiritual birth from God, not a physical birth that depends on human nature.

To receive Jesus means to believe in His name. His name is who He is; that is, His person. Jesus is God as well as man; He is the Lamb of God our Savior who takes away the sin of the world. All those who believe in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior are given the right to be children of God. All who believe in the Person of Christ are spiritually born of God.

Verse 12 contains important words for those who receive Christ. He gave, to those who opened their life to Him; the free gift of redemption. Salvation is by grace alone. It is a free gift and never a human achievement. Yet the imparting of the gift is dependent on man’s acceptance of Christ.

God transforms us from children of darkness and sin to His holy children when, we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, (the absolute ruler of our lives) and when we understand that Jesus paid our sin debt in full when He bore them upon Himself and died for us on the Cross.

The moment that we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we pass from death into life (John 5:24), from children of darkness into children of light. God gives the Holy Spirit to impart this new and holy life to His true children; the Holy Spirit actually comes to live in our physical bodies when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord. The Bible states that the indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome sin and to stop sinning as a way of life. Romans 8:1-2 states; “Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are alive in Christ Jesus…”

Sin no longer has the forceful control over our lives that it did before we accepted Jesus as the Lord of our lives. Sins power and control was broken and shattered by Jesus on the cross, when He stated those magnificent, powerful, life changing words, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)

Children of God means we became partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). When we received Jesus Christ as our Savior and make Him the Lord of our lives we were born again and are part of God’s family. The gift, the privilege and the birth are for those who receive Jesus Christ into their life.

The definition of those who believe in His name is provided by equating it with receive Him. John uses the verb believe 98 times and he never used it as a noun. It is clear that he thought of faith as an activity, as something men do that moves or changes them rather than a motionless state. When we truly believe we yield ourselves up to be possessed and changed by Jesus Christ.

Many people are confused about how they can be sure God has forgiven them and will welcome them into heaven. They don’t know what it means to receive, to believe in, or to accept Christ.

There is a simple story of a teacher that offered a ten dollar bill to any student that wanted it. As he held it up, the students all yelled out “I want it, I want it.” After a few moments, the teacher asked again who wants this ten dollar bill and finally one of the students got up and walked up to the teacher and took the bill. The ten dollar bill was not his until he took it. The same is true of salvation, being forgiven and going to heaven. Although Jesus has provided salvation for us through His death on the cross, what He accomplished there will do us no good unless we accepted Him into our life.

Verse 13 speaks of the only One who can perform or bring about the new birth. “Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

This is a supernatural spiritual birth. No person can earn it and no person deserves it. It is not of blood, as with physical birth, it is a spiritual birth. It is not by the will of the flesh, it cannot be obtained through self discipline or a diligent effort to adhere to a set of religious rules. Nor is it by the will of man. Nobody becomes a child of God by participating in a religious ceremony, or by following church traditions. It is entirely God’s doing: “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

Although spiritual birth is brought about by God, rather than by man, each of us must decide either to accept or reject Jesus Christ. Just as the student chose to get up and take the ten dollar bill, we need to move and make the decision to accept Jesus as our Savior and to make Him Lord of our lives. Be assured, and comforted, that God wants you to know Him, He wants you to receive Christ, be spiritually born again and be a part of His family.

Jesus said: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Jesus gave His life for us so that we could have His life in us and be His children. Are you His child? Have you let Him in? If you would like to know more follow this link.