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GOD’S BAD RAP (Part 2)

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James 1:17 (NKJV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Yesterday, we looked at the verse in John where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  We brought out that God, our Heavenly Father, is accused of doing many things that, according to what we see in the New Testament, do not line up to His way of acting. In this verse in James, it says that every good and perfect gift comes from God.  Well even I, with my little brain, can figure out that sickness and calamity is not good.  It is like when people lose their home through a tornado, or a flood, or whatever natural disaster, people try to tell us that this was God’s will.  Not according to what we read in the New Testament! When sickness invades us, we need to remember that Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”  I can never find Jesus putting sickness on...
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GOD’S BAD RAP (Part 1)

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John 14:7-9 (NKJV) “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” When we read the New Testament, it shows us a different picture than what the world, or religion, tells us.  In these verses, Philip asked Jesus a simple question, yet the answer should change the way we see God, and help us to better understand where bad things come from. Philip asked to see the Father that Jesus was always talking about, and then Jesus said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”  Well, by reading this, we can say that what Jesus did while He walked the earth, is the same thing that the Father does. I never saw Jesus put sickness on a person, so I ...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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LEAP OVER A WALL

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2 Samuel 22:29-30 (NKJV) For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness. 30 For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. Many times, we try to do things that are not possible to do in our own strength.  But when we put our trust in God, our Father, He gives us the power to run against the enemy, and to leap walls that are too high for us to leap over. When young David came against Goliath, he did not let Goliath run at him.  Instead, he ran against him.  Why was that?  Because he knew Who his God was, and what his God could do. He knew the covenant of his God, so he came with boldness against the enemy. We have a covenant with our God through Jesus Christ, and if He wants you to run at the enemy, you can!  If he wants you to leap over a high wall, you can! The Bible says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Jesus is our strength, and He is our abi...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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HE DELIGHTS IN ME

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2 Samuel 22:18-20 (NKJV) He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me.19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. 20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. God, our Heavenly Father, takes great delight in us.  Many times we do not believe this because of the mistakes we make, or because of our wrong self-image.  But here He states that, "He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me." When we see ourselves the way our Father sees us, and change what we speak about ourselves, we will find out that God does delight in us, and that He created us for fellowship.  He created us to enjoy Him, and He to enjoy us. When there is a good relationship between a father and child, or a mother and child, there is nothing like it.  It is the same way with us and our Heavenly Father.  He wants t...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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IT HURTS

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Psalms 55:12-14 (NKJV) For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him.  13 But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance.  14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng. There are times in life when we are hurt by others.  We know that things like this happen.  Then there are times when we are hurt by a fellow brother or sister, and that is when it really hurts. In this portion of Scripture, we see that the Psalmist is hurt by someone who was close to him, and he felt the pain of it. This someone even worshiped with him.  Wow!  That hurts. So what are we to do?  As always, we must forgive, because forgiveness frees us and frees them.  When we live a life of forgiveness, it gives us the power to grow in God’s grace. Even on the cross of Calvary, Jesus, our Lord a...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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TRUE REST

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Psalms 55:6-7 (NLTSE) Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!  7 I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. There are times in life when we want to do what this Psalm says, and that is to fly away from all our problems and be at rest.  But one thing that we find in life is that when we run from our problems, they seem to never go away.  We might get away from them for a few days, and sometimes even longer, but they always seem to come right back, and at times, worse than they were. So what are we to do if flying away is not the answer?  We need to face our fears and problems, not in our own strength or our own ability, but by God’s Spirit.  Zechariah 4:6 says, “’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” We need to face our problems in the strength of our God!  He knows the answer, and He wants to deliver us from all of our fears.  Jesus told us that in this world we wo...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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DINING WITH JESUS

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Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Can we really take hold of this verse?   Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, would like to come and sup with us.  When we think of eating with someone, we think of fellowship and sharing with one another, and that is what our Lord is talking about here.  He would like to come and fellowship with us. I once heard someone say that the meaning of the word fellowship is “two fellows in a ship.”  What would two fellows in a ship do?  They would talk, and share, and laugh, especially if they are good friends.  Well, there is no greater friend than Jesus!  So as you hear Him knocking on the door of your heart, open up to Him and let Him in. I guarantee that your life will never be the same! When God comes down in your “cool of the day,” like He did with Adam and Eve, a...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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WE KNOW HIS VOICE

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John 10:4-5 (NKJV) And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. It is such a great feeling to know that Jesus is our Shepherd, and that we know His voice. Sometimes, we are going through things in our lives, and we wonder, “Do I know His voice?  Am I hearing Him?”  Well, this verse says that His sheep know His voice, and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. The Shepherd's voice is not hard to hear, but many times in our busyness, we are not listening.  God is so patient with us, and He is always guiding us and helping us in our course of life.  Do not get discouraged because you might miss it, or you do not know for sure what to do.  Learn to become more God inside-minded, and as you do, you will hear His voice clearer and clearer. Learn to say this t...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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IN GOD’S PRESENCE IS JOY

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Psalms 16:11 (NKJV) You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. God, our Father, has shown us the path to true life.  True life can only come through a relationship with the Father, through Jesus.  This life is so full and so rich, yet so many born-again Christians lose out on it by getting so caught up in the lower life of this world.  This verse says that in God’s presence is fullness of joy.  As we take time to hang out in His presence, it brings such joy and fullness to our being.  God is the One who created us, and He knows what makes us tick. I have found out that what makes me tick is knowing Him, and the only way I can get to know Him is by spending time with Him. Our Heavenly Father yearns for that.  As He came down in the cool of the day to hang out with Adam and Eve, so He wants to come down and spend time with us.  Jesus showed us that the Father now li...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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FEAR IS NOT OF GOD

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Psalms 34:4 (NKJV) I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. As we take time to seek the Lord and look to His face, our Father delivers us from our fears.  There are so many fears in this life, and without the Lord’s goodness and His being true to His Word, we would live in torment in our lives.  As we look at this verse today, we see that God did not deliver us out of some of our fears, but He wants to free us from all of our fears.  There are some who would say that this is not possible.  Well, why would God put it in His Word if it were not possible?   For those who say that it is not possible to live without fear, it is not possible for them, because Jesus said that all things are possible to them that believe .  It says in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”  A...
Location: New Jersey, USA
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