Podcasts about you o lord

Psalm 31 has the unique distinction of being quoted by both Jonah and Jesus - from the belly of a fish and the cross. It is a Psalm declaring that God is our refuge. There is no question about the quality of God's shelter. It is only a question of whether we will trust Him. Can we say today like David, "I trust in You O Lord, my times are in your hands?"Prayers for Deliverance: How should we pray when under pressure? One might think that "Help!" would suffice. In this 5-message series, Dr. John walks through Psalms 28-32 to teach us how to pray when assailed by trouble. A call for help is a start, but there is so much more. 

An interesting one today. It's Isaiah, so a Lot of bad news because of the constant evil and rebellion of the Israelites, with some blessings sprinkled in. And more prophesies directly about Jesus than one would remember. Traditionally, Isaiah was sawed in half by the evil son of King Hezekiah who was a genuinely decent king. God told him he was going to die early, but unfortunately Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed and begged God to let him live because it is implied that he has no sons to take the throne after he died, and it was honestly the worst thing that could have happened. God said he could live 15 more years. And sons were born to Hezekiah. And nothing but immense grief resulted. One of his sons, Manasseh, became an absolutely evil and disgraceful idolator running his kingdom into the ground for an abusive 45 years, and again, as tradition would have it, he murdered his father's friend and counsellor, Isaiah. Some really beautiful verses that stuck out to me today. 17:7,8-And in that day will men look to their Maker, and their eyes shall regard the Holy One of Israel. And they will not look at the idolatrous altars, the work of their hands, neither will they have respect for what their fingers have made... Screw the nonsense climate change depopulation lie. 24:1-6-Behold the Lord will make the land and the earth empty and make it waste and turn it upside down and scatter abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be-as what happens with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; ... The land and the earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly pillaged; for the Lord has said this. The land and the earth mourn and wither, the world languishes and withers, the high ones of the people languish, The land and the earth also are defiled by their inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, disregarded the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the land and the earth, and they who dwell in it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore the inhabitants of the land and earth are scorched and parched under the curse of God's wrath, and few people are left. 25;8,9-He will swallow up death in victory; He will abolish death forever. And the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces; and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth; for the Lord has spoken it. 26:9-My soul yearns for You O Lord in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for only when Your judgments are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

But I Trust in You O Lord The post Psalm 31 But I Trust in You O Lord appeared first on ReCAST Church.

Grief alone will not provide strength, unless it leads to undivided alone time with God. Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org! ~~~ When you have no strength, you strengthen yourself in the LORD. The children's song speaks volumes…”they are weak but He is strong.” But how? That's the real question isn't it? How did David strengthen Himself in the LORD? What was His process? Because it's not very helpful for us just to say, “He strengthened himself in the LORD, and you should too,” without knowing how he did that. And I think our text, and this particular verse, is helpful to us on understanding how Strengthening yourself in the LORD does and does not happen. HOW WE SEEK THE LORD's STRENGTH: Grieving, alone, does not strengthen you in the LORD. We see in this text that the men, including David, grieved heavily. This is not to see that grieving is not a part of the process, but grieving is not the whole process. Some people will tell you, “You just need to have a good cry…just a good rant session. Get it all out and then you will feel better. But it's not true. You are not changed by just grieving through a situation. The book of Psalms is filled with songs of Lament. Grief. The expression of pain, heartache, confusion fills the pages of the book of Psalms. Psalm 12:1, 6 “Save O lORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak…(7) You O LORD will keep them (the poor); you will guard from this generation forever.” Psalms 13:1, 5 “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?…But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” In the Psalms of Lament, yes their is grief, but there is a turning to the LORD, a trusting in the LORD. The grief is a way of emptying you of all your strength, but there is no strength to replace it. Thinking that grief alone will strengthen you is the same mistake we make when we say, “I just need to get away. I need a vacation. That will make everything better.” This was my way of thinking for a long time until very recently that I realized that it is not the vacation that refreshes me but rather the undistracted, undisturbed time alone with the LORD. So grief alone, just letting it out, getting it off your chest, is not what strengthened David.

Opening Song: Psalm 86 (https://open.spotify.com/track/54aohSaGyM0GzE02PDASZE?si=012af23adf97426b) by Jennifer Somers and Tyler Somers Lyrics: O Lord my God incline Your ear And answer me for I am poor Preserve my life rescue this slave Who trusts in You O Lord my God O Lord my God show me Your Grace To you I cry all the day Make glad this soul Your servant save My soul I lift to You my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You O Lord my God You are so good Quick to forgive and bountiful In loving kindness to everyone Who calls on You O Lord my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Only You only You O Lord my God I will give thanks With my whole heart and glorify Your name forever for You have saved My soul from Hell O Lord my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Only You only You only You Passage: 1 Listen, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Protect my life, for I am faithful. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant's life, because I appeal to you, Lord. 5 For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you. 6 LORD, hear my prayer; listen to my cries for mercy. 7 I call on you in the day of my distress, for you will answer me. 8 Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor your name. 10 For you are great and perform wonders; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, LORD, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear your name. 12 I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever. 13 For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol. (Psalm 86:1-13 CSB) Musical Reflection: Jesus, Remember Me by Jacques Berthier Reflection Notes: “Jesus, Remember Me” is a tune from the French Taizé tradition; these simple songs are meant to be repeated indefinitely with added instrumentation or voice parts. They are meant to be meditative and allow for prayer. Prayer: O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth; we humbly beseech you to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -The Gelasian Sacramentary

ASTRONOMICAL TERMS Philo of Alexandria and the Saying “So Shall Your Seed Be” In commenting on Gen 15:5 in Who Is the Heir? 86–87, Philo states: When the Lord led him outside He said “Look up into heaven and count the stars, if thou canst count their sum. So shall be thy seed.” Well does the text say “so (ότως ἔσται)” not “so many (τοσοῦτον)” that is, “of equal number to the stars.” For He wishes to suggest not number merely, but a multitude of other things, such as tend to happiness perfect and complete. he “seed shall be (ότως οὖν ἔσται),” He says, as the ethereal sight spread out before him, celestial as that is, full of light unshadowed and pure as that is, for night is banished from heaven and darkness from ether. It shall be the very likeness of the stars. 7 7. All translations of Philo are taken from, Philo, trans. F. H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker et al., LCL (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1929–87). MYTHOLOGY Fitzgerald means son of the spear ruler. The thunderbolt of Zeus is commonly depicted as a spear in Greek mythology. The spear is often symbolizes the power and authority of Zeus, who is the king of the gods and the god of thunder and lightning. While Zeus had many sons, the son he bore as a demigod was Heracles, in Roman mythology his name is Hercules. See article & podcast & movie TOPONYMY Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester, and was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,[4]meaning "the shire of the city of legions" BIBLICAL NARRATIVE THEOLOGY The lofty world-mountain's fate is to be flattened into a plain (4:7a), then immediately adds the victorious announcement that the messiah-figure (Zerubbabel) will bring forth the capstone in completion of God's house of glory (4:7b). Satan's Esagila-Olympus will fall and the true Har-Magedon of the Lord's Anointed will lift up its head. The saints praise God as the One who lifts up their head-horn. “My horn is exalted in the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:1). “You, O Lord . . . are the lifter up of my head” (Ps. 3:3[4]). “You [O Lord] have lifted up my horn like that of the unicorn” (Ps. 92:10[11]). God is also praised as the one who exalts the horn of the Messiah. ”[The Lord] will give strength to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed” (1 Sam. 2:10; cf. Pss. 89:17,18[18,19]; 148:14). Psalm 110 celebrates this eschatological event. It is Messiah's head that is exalted in victory (v. 7b), whether we understand the subject of the action to be Yahweh, swearer of the oath (vv. 1,4) or Messiah himself, David's Lord (v. 1), recipient of the sworn appointment as priest-king forever. And either way it is the Lord who lifts up the head. This psalm displays the full pattern of the great reversal, for the Lord's striking down heads in his wrath against the nations (v. 6) is the precursor to the lifting up of his own head in glory (v. 7). Verses 9–10 extend the theme of reversal to the entire cosmos. God will keep his faithful ones but will cut off the wicked. No might can save man from God's justice. The Lord will judge “the ends of the earth” and “he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” In Hannah's praise, God's redemptive reversals culminate in the exaltation of an anointed king (literally, “his messiah” [מְשִׁיחוֹ]). The capstone of God's work in bringing Hannah's personal reversal and Israel's national reversal is an eschatological reversal in which God's justice and salvation are poured out on the nations, and his Messiah is given royal victory. In summary, Hannah's hymn sets Samuel's readers on a trajectory in which God exalts the humble, humbles the exalted, proves his sovereignty, and establishes his anointed king. A5: Just like with Hercules...there here, now an eschatological rival so down with Mt. Olympus. The extending of the galactic crown, a dynasty now openly transmitted!

NWO VS MZO The dark triad is a psychological theory of personality, first published by Delroy L. Paulhusand Kevin M. Williams in 2002,[1]that describes three notably offensive, but non-pathological personality types: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissism, and sub-clinical psychopathy.[2][3][4][5]Each of these personality types is called darkbecause each is considered to contain malevolent qualities.[2][6][7][8] All three dark triad traits are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They are associated with a callous–manipulative interpersonal style.[9] - Narcissismis characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy.[10] - Machiavellianismis characterized by manipulationand exploitation of others, an absence of morality, lack of emotion, and a higher level of self-interest.[11] - Psychopathyis characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callous and unemotional traits(CU),[12]and remorselessness.[13] DIVINE REVERSAL The scope of vision five is broader; it presents not just the prelude judgment but the whole reversal pattern of heads cast down and heads lifted up. It declares that the lofty world-mountain's fate is to be flattened into a plain (4:7a), then immediately adds the victorious announcement that the messiah-figure (Zerubbabel) will bring forth the capstone in completion of God's house of glory (4:7b). Satan's Esagila-Olympus will fall and the true Har-Magedon of the Lord's Anointed will lift up its head. The saints praise God as the One who lifts up their head-horn. “My horn is exalted in the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:1). “You, O Lord . . . are the lifter up of my head” (Ps. 3:3[4]). “You [O Lord] have lifted up my horn like that of the unicorn” (Ps. 92:10[11]). God is also praised as the one who exalts the horn of the Messiah. ”[The Lord] will give strength to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed” (1 Sam. 2:10; cf. Pss. 89:17,18[18,19]; 148:14). Psalm 110 celebrates this eschatological event. It is Messiah's head that is exalted in victory (v. 7b), whether we understand the subject of the action to be Yahweh, swearer of the oath (vv. 1,4) or Messiah himself, David's Lord (v. 1), recipient of the sworn appointment as priest-king forever. And either way it is the Lord who lifts up the head. This psalm displays the full pattern of the great reversal, for the Lord's striking down heads in his wrath against the nations (v. 6) is the precursor to the lifting up of his own head in glory (v. 7). Verses 9–10 extend the theme of reversal to the entire cosmos. God will keep his faithful ones but will cut off the wicked. No might can save man from God's justice. The Lord will judge “the ends of the earth” and “he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” In Hannah's praise, God's redemptive reversals culminate in the exaltation of an anointed king (literally, “his messiah” [מְשִׁיחוֹ]). The capstone of God's work in bringing Hannah's personal reversal and Israel's national reversal is an eschatological reversal in which God's justice and salvation are poured out on the nations, and his Messiah is given royal victory. In summary, Hannah's hymn sets Samuel's readers on a trajectory in which God exalts the humble, humbles the exalted, proves his sovereignty, and establishes his anointed king. It is no coincidence that a similar hymn closes out Samuel's book by praising “the Rock” (2 Sam 22:32), who saves “a humble people” and brings down “the haughty” (22:28). Brevard Childs was right to point out how these two hymns act as bookends of Samuel's work.11 In this light, the theme of reversal forms an inclusio around Samuel's narrative that tells of Davidic exaltation. Going Boldly Where The Last Man has Gone Before! Decrease time over target:  PayPal or Venmo @clastronaut Cash App $clastronaut

Solid Rock Bible Church ‎Wednesday, ‎October ‎4, ‎2023 Pastor Bill Gay: "Open Our Eyes to You O Lord!" SCRIPTURE: 2 Kings 6:13-23 Revelation 12:12

Opening Song: Psalm 86 (https://open.spotify.com/track/54aohSaGyM0GzE02PDASZE?si=012af23adf97426b) by Jennifer Somers and Tyler Somers Lyrics: O Lord my God incline Your ear And answer me for I am poor Preserve my life rescue this slave Who trusts in You O Lord my God O Lord my God show me Your Grace To you I cry all the day Make glad this soul Your servant save My soul I lift to You my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You O Lord my God You are so good Quick to forgive and bountiful In loving kindness to everyone Who calls on You O Lord my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Only You only You O Lord my God I will give thanks With my whole heart and glorify Your name forever for You have saved My soul from Hell O Lord my God Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Teach me Your way and I will walk in Your truth Unite my heart that I may fear only You Only You only You only You Passage: Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. 8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. 15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. Musical Reflection: O Lord, Hear My Prayer by Jacques Berthier Reflection Notes: This song from the Taizé community contains a series of pleas: “O Lord, hear my prayer, O Lord, hear my prayer; when I call, answer me.” The repeated notes emphasize the insistence of the sung prayer, while the descending lines indicate a deep, almost despairing desire to connect. Prayer: This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.

“The holy ones of the Most High will procure the kingdom and will possess the kingdom forever and ever.'” Daniel‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬ ‭ “Return to the stronghold [of security and prosperity], you prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will restore double your former prosperity to you. [Ps. 40:2; Isa. 40:2.]” Zechariah‬ ‭9‬:‭12‬ ‭ The scope of vision five is broader; it presents not just the prelude judgment but the whole reversal pattern of heads cast down and heads lifted up. It declares that the lofty world-mountain's fate is to be flattened into a plain (4:7a), then immediately adds the victorious announcement that the messiah-figure (Zerubbabel) will bring forth the capstone in completion of God's house of glory (4:7b). Satan's Esagila-Olympus will fall and the true Har-Magedon of the Lord's Anointed will lift up its head. The saints praise God as the One who lifts up their head-horn. “My horn is exalted in the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:1). “You, O Lord . . . are the lifter up of my head” (Ps. 3:3[4]). “You [O Lord] have lifted up my horn like that of the unicorn” (Ps. 92:10[11]). God is also praised as the one who exalts the horn of the Messiah. ”[The Lord] will give strength to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed” (1 Sam. 2:10; cf. Pss. 89:17,18[18,19]; 148:14). Psalm 110 celebrates this eschatological event. It is Messiah's head that is exalted in victory (v. 7b), whether we understand the subject of the action to be Yahweh, swearer of the oath (vv. 1,4) or Messiah himself, David's Lord (v. 1), recipient of the sworn appointment as priest-king forever. And either way it is the Lord who lifts up the head. This psalm displays the full pattern of the great reversal, for the Lord's striking down heads in his wrath against the nations (v. 6) is the precursor to the lifting up of his own head in glory (v. 7). Verses 9–10 extend the theme of reversal to the entire cosmos. God will keep his faithful ones but will cut off the wicked. No might can save man from God's justice. The Lord will judge “the ends of the earth” and “he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” In Hannah's praise, God's redemptive reversals culminate in the exaltation of an anointed king (literally, “his messiah” [מְשִׁיחוֹ]). The capstone of God's work in bringing Hannah's personal reversal and Israel's national reversal is an eschatological reversal in which God's justice and salvation are poured out on the nations, and his Messiah is given royal victory. In summary, Hannah's hymn sets Samuel's readers on a trajectory in which God exalts the humble, humbles the exalted, proves his sovereignty, and establishes his anointed king. It is no coincidence that a similar hymn closes out Samuel's book by praising “the Rock” (2 Sam 22:32), who saves “a humble people” and brings down “the haughty” (22:28). Brevard Childs was right to point out how these two hymns act as bookends of Samuel's work. In this light, the theme of reversal forms an inclusio around Samuel's narrative that tells of Davidic exaltation. Glorification | The Final Frontier Going Boldly Where The Last Man has Gone Before! Decrease time over target:  PayPal or Venmo @clastronaut Cash App $clastronaut

Key Bible Verse: "I love You O LORD my strength." Psalm 18:1

Rev. John Rickert, pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Newark, Delaware, joins Rev. Brady Finnern to study and pray Psalm 138. David gives thanks to the LORD with His whole heart. He gives thanks that His name is above all names, He gives strength, sustains us in trouble. Keep praying saints as He remembers the lowly, those who recognize their need for the LORD, and fulfills His purpose for each of us by His steadfast love. “I give thanks to You O LORD, that Your steadfast love endures forever and Your name is above all names. Deliver us, sustain us, do not forsake us, and give us words of thanksgiving back to You. In Christ, Amen”

I encourage you to take God at His word and praise Him for keeping it. So, trust God, and don't be afraid, because no one can harm us when God is with us. I vow to trust, obey, and serve You O Lord. I am thankful for everything You have already done and the things You are doing right now for me. God has rescued me from my enemies times and times and kept my feet on the path of righteousness. As long as I am alive, I am committed to walking in the light from God's throne. Don't Be Afraid!

I encourage you to take God at His word and praise Him for keeping it. So, trust God, and don't be afraid, because no one can harm us when God is with us. I vow to trust, obey, and serve You O Lord. I am thankful for everything You have already done and the things You are doing right now for me. God has rescued me from my enemies times and times and kept my feet on the path of righteousness. As long as I am alive, I am committed to walking in the light from God's throne. Don't Be Afraid!

#ODESOFSOLOMON13AND14PRODBYBOGERBYA1EXODUS-JULY-21-2021 #BANDLABVERSION1.64.WAV Ode 13 1 Behold, the Lord is our mirror. Open your eyes and see them in Him. 2 And learn the manner of your face Then declare praises to His Spirit. 3 And wipe the paint from your face And love His holiness and put it on. 4 Then you will be unblemished at all times with Him Hallelujah. Ode 14 1 As the eyes of a son upon his father So are my eyes O Lord, at all times towards You 2 Because my breasts And my pleasure are with You. 3 Turn not aside Your mercies from me O Lord And take not Your kindness from me. 4 Stretch out to me, my Lord, at all times Your right hand And be to me a guide till the end according to Your will 5 Let me be pleasing before You because of Your glory And because of Your name let me be saved from the Evil One 6 And let Your gentleness O Lord, abide with me And the fruits of Your love 7 Teach me the odes of Your truth That I may produce fruits in You 8 And open to me the harp of Your Holy Spirit So that with every note I may praise You O Lord 9 And according to the multitude of Your mercies so grant unto me And hasten to grant our petitions 10 For You are sufficient for all our needs Hallelujah. #ODESOFSOLOMON13 #ODESOFSOLOMON14 #PRODBYBOGER #BYA1EXODUS #CREATEDJULY212021 #HEAVENWIDE #FIRMAMENTWIDE #EARTHWIDE #WORLDWIDE #ALLOWEDONALLALGORITHMS --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/a1-exodus1/message

PRAYER FOCUS: GOD IS OUR SOURCE NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US! FOR GOD HAS HEARD OUR CRY! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, Just as You heard the cry of Your people Israel who suffered for 400 years under Egyptian rule, You have heard us, so we too will see a deliverance from our enemies and all those who have betrayed us in destroying our nation. We are still under the covenant our founding fathers and mothers made with You. Yes, Father there is still a loyal remnant who wants our nation to be under Your rule and to be free from the enslavement of all those who promote socialism and communism and all other forms of captivity. We trust You Father, that during these days when there is no one who really knows what You are going to do, that Your Promises You have spoken through Your prophetic voice in our day will come to pass. We trust You, Father for You are a God of Justice and You hate evil and all that sets Your People in bondage. So this day Father, we say Jesus is Lord and You are our first love and we await the miracle that is about to unfold so that President Trump remains in office for 4 more years and that all those who are corrupt will be brought down. We see that You laugh at Your enemies who say no one can defeat us we are in control we are too powerful. You have said that we will see on throne after another not just fall but be destroyed and with Your Holy Fire will be turned to ashes. Father in this hour of our unified prayer under the authority of Jesus we bind the strong man and his strongholds across this nation that we loosed from their power of captivity. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed! We take the Sword of Faith and strike at all the altars of the evil ones to be smashed and utterly destroyed. And with our strength in You O Lord we are here to rebuild altars of worship of You across this nation! So again we proclaim we no King but Jesus and we are Your People and we live under Your Commands for our only concern is to live in Harmony with You O Lord and to be in harmony with one another so that we will be shining Light to the world that proclaims You are our God and we serve no other. That this nation will be ruled by Justice and laws based on Your Holy Scriptures! Thank You, Father for raising up in our midst anointed men and women to be our judges, Congressmen and women, Governors, mayors and all those You have anointed to lead us. So now all those who are corrupt, committed treason and betrayed us are arrested and face the just punishment they deserve. We are ready to see it and accept it no matter how long it takes it to be done. Father, we are grateful to be alive in this day and to know that Your loving kindness reaches into each of us and that we walk by Faith and not by sight! That no matter how weak we feel even in the face of our enemy we are strong for we can do all things in Christ Jesus now and forever! AmenQ! Some special prayer requests: Mark Taylor's mother undergoing some health issues.Gene Ho who is running for Mayor of Myrtle Beach, SC being attacked by his enemies to defeat him! For all who are suffering health issues, especially any under the attack of Covid-19 For the protection of President Trump and his family all the pressure they are under trying to keep America under God and making us live by law and order! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5) Prayer Request (54) Prayers (385) Prophetic Alert (3) Testimony (26) Uncategorized (2) Website Updates (4) Archives January 2021 (8) December 2020 (8) November 2020 (7) October 2020 (10) September 2020 (7) August 2020 (9) July 2020 (8) June 2020 (14)

PRAYER FOCUS: LET US STAND TOGETHER IN THE FIRE OF GOD! TODAY LET THIS FIRE CONSUME OUR ENEMIES AND STIR UP IN US A LOVE FOR OUR GOD THAT NO ONE CAN STOP OR ALTER! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father The words of a song come to mind: we can only imagine what it will be like to stand in Your Presence and to be in Your Glory for how awesome You are that You have created us in Your Image and You have loving kindness towards us for we are here because o what Your Son, Yeshuah has done for us. Father in these moments let the Fire of Your Love burn within us to make us one with one another and be in harmony with Your Heart and be one to fulfill Your Holy Will for us in this day. Lord, on this day in history You gave one of our leaders Abraham Lincoln words brought us together then because of a civil war our nation was torn apart in. Brother fighting brother over a division that had cursed our nation: slavery. Now Lord we are in a spiritual struggle to set us free from the slavery that has cursed our nation again that of the pouring out of innocent blood of our children and a division caused because of the choice of death over life. Even now we are here Lord to intercede because of the deceit and the lies and treachery of those who have risen up against Your anointed for our nation. So Lord we call out that the Fire of Your Love consume us to be bold and courageous in this hour to bring about Justice and truth to make our nation one under You O Lord and that we are re-set to be a nation that is a nation that honors Your Son, Jesus the Christ and we are here to destroy the altars, the idols and temples of evil set upon us by the spirit of Jezebel and the following of the false god Baal. Lord let Your Fire consume our enemies and turn to ashes all that is not of You in this land! Father, let Your Holy Fire inspire all those who are here to bring Justice to our nation to be determine that nothing can stop them from revealing the truth about our vote and the lies and cheating that has taken place. That we will see a restoration of our voting system. That no liar or anyone who has in anyway promoted death especially to our children in the womb will have any office of leadership. Lord Your people have spoken very clearly so do not allow this sham to continue! Let Your Holy Fire consume our enemies and make a way for us when it looks as if the enemy is goi9ng to win. But in our hearts of Faith we know that this not to be. We have spoken clearly in our prayer and in our action to vote that we want a man You have chosen to lead us in this day! Lord that serpents who have done this will be crushed and we will see them be driven from the land! Just as You were with the children of Israel when they entered the Promised land to drive out the enemy and bring down the walls of Jericho let us see it now as we see good men and women like President Trump's legal team reveal the truth and expose the enemy. May the courts of our land decide in Justice and Truth that whom the people have over whelmingly selected to be their President be so! Lord God let Your Holy Fire burn in our midst that those who call themselves ministers of Your Word but are nothing more that wolves in sheep clothing be exposed and driven from our assemblies of worship. Lord let Your Holy Fire purify our worship, purify our lips to speak only what You have Commanded us to do in following Your Son, Yeshuah! Let Your Holy Fire purify us so that we will walk in harmony in our marriages, our families, our neighborhoods and in helping one another in any moment of need or understanding. Lord let the Fire of Your Love consume us now and make us one as You are one with Your Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever! Amen It is so! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7)

A new MP3 sermon from Immanuel Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: But I Trust in You O Lord Subtitle: Guest Speakers Speaker: Rev. Michael Beates Broadcaster: Immanuel Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 11/22/2020 Bible: Psalm 31:1-24 Length: 31 min.

+ 7th Sunday after Pentecost – July 19th, 2020 + Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Beautiful Savior Lutheran Milton, WA “The Parable of the Weeds” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Chances are that when you pick up a new book and look at the dust jacket or when a friend recommends a new show to watch on Netflix, you ask, “What's the story about?” Jesus' parables are no different. A sower, a field, good seeds, wheat and weeds, enemies, servants, and harvest time. What's this parable all about? It is a story about many things: trust, patience, and the Lord's deliverance; the problem of evil and the end times. For such a short parable, there's quite a lot going on. But the thread that holds it all together is the Lord's patience and mercy, his longsuffering. You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Keep those words in mind as our Lord explains the parable in more detail. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. The man is the Son of Man, Jesus. The field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. 25 but while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  Jesus tells us that the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”  The harvest, Jesus says, is close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Jesus' explanation sounds pretty straight forward. But did you notice that Jesus interprets every part of the parable with two notable exceptions? He tells us what everything means in the parable – sower, seed, field, weeds, enemy, harvest, and burn pile for the weeds. But Jesus says nothing about the servants or their questions to the farm owner. There's a gap in Jesus' interpretation. This is the genius of Jesus' storytelling in the parables. Jesus wants us to see ourselves in that gap. Not merely as someone who reads this parable casually, but to see ourselves as the servants/farm workers in the story. The servants ask: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?'   It's an age-old question. We've asked it ourselves many times. Why is there so much evil in the world? If God is good why does wickedness seem to run amuck? Why are there pandemics and riots and racism and such senseless violence? Why are police officers and 2 year olds being shot in our city streets? Why is the world full of so much suffering, pain, and cruelty. And the list of whys could go on. What's going on, Lord? Why are there so many weeds? An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds.

+ 7th Sunday after Pentecost – July 19th, 2020 + Series A: Isaiah 44:6-8; Romans 8:18-27; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 Beautiful Savior Lutheran Milton, WA “The Parable of the Weeds” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Chances are that when you pick up a new book and look at the dust jacket or when a friend recommends a new show to watch on Netflix, you ask, “What’s the story about?” Jesus’ parables are no different. A sower, a field, good seeds, wheat and weeds, enemies, servants, and harvest time. What’s this parable all about? It is a story about many things: trust, patience, and the Lord’s deliverance; the problem of evil and the end times. For such a short parable, there’s quite a lot going on. But the thread that holds it all together is the Lord’s patience and mercy, his longsuffering. You O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Keep those words in mind as our Lord explains the parable in more detail. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. The man is the Son of Man, Jesus. The field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. 25 but while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  Jesus tells us that the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”  The harvest, Jesus says, is close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Jesus’ explanation sounds pretty straight forward. But did you notice that Jesus interprets every part of the parable with two notable exceptions? He tells us what everything means in the parable – sower, seed, field, weeds, enemy, harvest, and burn pile for the weeds. But Jesus says nothing about the servants or their questions to the farm owner. There’s a gap in Jesus’ interpretation. This is the genius of Jesus’ storytelling in the parables. Jesus wants us to see ourselves in that gap. Not merely as someone who reads this parable casually, but to see ourselves as the servants/farm workers in the story. The servants ask: Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’   It’s an age-old question. We’ve asked it ourselves many times. Why is there so much evil in the world? If God is good why does wickedness seem to run amuck? Why are there pandemics and riots and racism and such senseless violence? Why are police officers and 2 year olds being shot in our city streets? Why is the world full of so much suffering, pain, and cruelty. And the list of whys could go on. What’s going on, Lord? Why are there so many weeds? An enemy hath done this. Our Lord creates. The devil destroys. The Lord wants only to be gracious and merciful. The devil wants only chaos and death. Jesus sows good seed. The devil sows weeds.

JUSTICE is at the heart of America’s founding and what it stands for.  From our beginning lives have been stressed, given, and taken, in the effort to secure JUSTICE. It’s a huge topic involving a cross-section of Religion, Ethics, Philosophy, & Law.  And there are several subsets of the application of Justice, the most common of which are: Distributive Justice—Fairness in Economics Procedural Justice—Fairness in Process Restorative Justice—Fairness in Restitution Retributive Justice—Fairness in Punishment Since the murder of George Floyd, and all the protests, violence, and destruction that followed in response, we have heard endless commentary and accusation in an effort to explain what Justice is, and who’s at fault when it fails.  But GOD has expressed an underlying context in which JUSTICE, in all it’s forms and applications, must be understood for it to be the blessing to society He has intended for us. Here is His commentary on JUSTICE, why it fails, and how it’s restored… ----more----   Is. 59:1 BEHOLD, THE Lord’s hand is not shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness, that it cannot hear.  Is. 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.  Is. 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.  Is. 59:4 None sues or calls in righteousness [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage]; no one goes to law honestly and pleads [his case] in truth; they trust in emptiness, worthlessness and futility, and speaking lies! They conceive mischief and bring forth evil!  Is. 59:5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and [from an egg] which is crushed a viper breaks out [for their nature is ruinous, deadly, evil].  Is. 59:6 Their webs will not serve as clothing, nor will they cover themselves with what they make; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.  Is. 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths and highways.  Is. 59:8 The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice or right in their goings. They have made them into crooked paths; whoever goes in them does not know peace. Is. 59:9 Therefore are justice and right far from us, and righteousness and salvation do not overtake us. We expectantly wait for light, but [only] see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity and gloom.  Is. 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, yes, we grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the twilight; in dark places and among those who are full of life and vigor, we are as dead men.  Is. 59:11 We all groan and growl like bears and moan plaintively like doves. We look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.  Is. 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord], and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know and recognize them [as]:  Is. 59:13 Rebelling against and denying the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and muttering and moaning from the heart words of falsehood.  Is. 59:14 Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; because TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREET, and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice].  Is. 59:15 Yes, truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.  Is. 59:16 And He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor [no one to intervene on behalf of truth and right]; therefore His own arm brought Him victory, and His own righteousness [having the Spirit without measure] sustained Him. Is. 59:17 For [the Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate or coat of mail, and salvation as a helmet upon His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal [and furious divine jealousy] as a cloak. Is. 59:18 According as their deeds deserve, so will He repay wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; on the foreign islands and coastlands He will make compensation.  Is. 59:19 So [as the result of the Messiah’s intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives]. Is. 59:20 He shall come as a Redeemer to Zion and to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression, says the Lord.  Is. 59:21 As for Me, this is My covenant or league with them, says the Lord: My Spirit, Who is upon you [and Who writes the law of God inwardly on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from henceforth and forever.  The 2 Great Principles Of JUSTICE… #1 No GOD, No JUSTICE, No Peace! GOD’s message concerning the breakdown of JUSTICE begins and ends with our relationship to Him!   GOD’s statement opens with the bold declaration that He is Willing and Able to hear society’s cries and deliver us from injustice.  BUT society’s own sins of hypocrisy and injustice have brought a separation between GOD and them.   It’s always GOD who’s the first to be grieved at INJUSTICE… And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was NO JUSTICE. And GOD’s statement closes with the covenant promise that Jesus the Messiah will intervene and become The Standard against Satan’s floods of injustice. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and…He shall come as a Redeemer to Zion and to those…who turn from transgression, says the Lord. In summary: The foundation of JUSTICE is laid on the MESSIANIC PROMISE.   Injustice immediately appeared at man’s Fall when Cain slew Able.  But GOD promised that the Blood of Jesus would bring a Better JUSTICE, sown with Mercy and Restoration.   When JUSTICE is removed from its foundation in GOD it becomes a corrupted form of Partial Justice, and becomes a tool of whoever holds the power.  The History of Injustice is the history of Human Justice. When dealing with Israel over their treason against Him and their resulting practices of INJUSTICE, this was GOD’s command to them: Hos. 12:6 But you must RETURN to your God, by maintaining love and justice, and by waiting for your God to return to you. Mic. 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God.   #2 Justice Is The Fruit Of Sowing Is. 59:14 JUSTICE is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; because TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREET, and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice]. JUSTICE cannot survive on Hypocrisy! Truth Falls in the street of a society whose people demand a JUSTICE they don’t practice towards others.  When Society allows The Street to be ruled by people (whether citizens or police) that demand JUSTICE while violating the rights of others, then Truth Falls, Hypocrisy reigns, and JUSTICE loses.  The message to Society is simple: There can be no JUSTICE among people who do not Practice JUSTICE!  Sowing INJUSTICE will only produce more INJUSTICE.  So what do I do with my ANGER toward INJUSTICE? Eph. 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. When Jesus overthrew the Money-Changers’ tables He wasn’t attacking the idea of commerce or prosperity in “The Street” of Society.  He was attacking the sin in His Own House!  If we’d practice Righteous Indignation with ourselves (in our own house) we’d be less likely to act UNJUSTLY toward others when we pursue social JUSTICE.  Anger can only become Righteous Indignation when it’s surrendered to GOD in Repentance and pleads for MERCY instead of Judgment. Hos. 10:12 Sow to YOURSELVES in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.  Altar Call — This is a Moment of Great Opportunity for a Jesus Revival!! If people can pivot away from finding fault in others and turn to realizing their own need for GOD’s Love.   If they can turn from rage and accusation to plea for GOD's Mercy to be sown in their hearts. If we could see The Truth of our Need for GOD honored in our Streets. We could have the greatest Jesus Revival and JUSTICE Renewal America has ever experienced.

PRAYER FOCUS: WE ARE SET ASIDE FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS! Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We are here in trust!  We trust that You have us covered by Your Mighty Hand to shield us from any attack of the enemy whether in our mind or in our feelings of fear of what is around us.   We are here in trust because we know that it is true Your son has already defeated our foe.  We are here in trust that You have placed us in this time and in this space because You have great plans for us!  We are here in trust that all things will work out according to Your Perfect Will for us.  We know that even if we feel fear or are scared of the activities going on around us and some of what we see is dangerous, Your are sitting on Your Throne knowing the beginning from the end.  We maybe shaking or fearful on our knees before You, but You are God and nothing shakes You, nothing frightens You, nothing that man does surprises You!  So Lord give us confidence to trust You in these shakey times cause You are our God and trust is well founded.  We can walk in confident trust that You have everything in control and that You have set each of us aside for such a time as this! Our Hope is in You O Lord there is no one else! Trust is our battle cry!  Trust in You! Lord, we are so thankful that You have anointed President Trump to lead us during this time. We are thankful that You have given him confidence to use his authority as President to make decisions that cover America ad that he has a heart for our people.  We are confident that You O Lord place men and women of righteousness around him that the holy Spirit will use to give him the guidance he needs during this time and to even in plans for our future.  We trust You Lord that You will remove any of the betrayers or those who are plotting against this man.  That this is the time s the prophet Mark Taylor and others have spoken the corrupt will be removed.  That we will see president Trump even ap[point new Justices to the Supreme Court and decisions like Roe v. Wade will crash before Your Presence.  That America is slated to return to its roots, even though there is turmoil now it will not last forever because decisive action will be taken and those of us who are in the trenches of prayer will see that Your will for us will be done! No doubt just Trust! Father, it is in trust that we will see those who have been foolish in their liberal ways of trying to keep peace with evil will fall to the wayside and those who You raise up in righteousness will prevail.  The Holy Spirit is blowing the winds of change a cross America, even in the flames we see that are destructive we are awakening to a renewed  spirit of wanting law and order.  That Justice will prevail and those who have been partakers in this evil will be prosecuted and suffer the consequences of their choices.  Lord, Your people are tired of the lies and deceit of those who are wolves in sheep clothing even in our churches.  We have seen enough snakes and snake charmers leading us into falsehood of the Gospel. It is time during these days of turmoil to bring about a renewed spirit in us to say enough! Righteousness prevails and Justice reigns in our Land!  Just as it is in Your Kingdom in heaven it is now on the earth and we Your Warriors are here to proclaim ait and declare and so shall it be!  In the Authority of Jesus we bind all that is evil and all that is false worship of a devil who is no god to be crushed now!  That we as a nation return to our roots in Christ Jesus and that we actively will partake in the change that is laid out before us.  We are no longer here to hide and cower for the coming, but we are here to do our part for You see us worthy and valuable to fulfill Your Will on earth as it is in heaven! We trust that Your Holy Spirit will keep us calm and peaceful in times like this!  That You have heard our heartfelt cry to change America and that the ca...

1SAMUEL 23-24:As David fled from Saul, he went for help to Ahimelech the priest. He needed food and wanted to consult with the Lord, and it happened that Ahimelech also gave him Goliath's sword. All this resulted later in Ahimelech's death and the deaths of all of Ahimelech's family— except one. PSALM 104b:This Psalm starts and ends with the same refrain, and it is the same refrain as in Psalm 103. This psalm expounds on the majesty of God— especially as seen in His creation. ROMANS 8b:The power behind the new lives that God wants us to live is the Holy Spirit. A side observation here: We can see that the Holy Spirit can equally be called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (vs. 9-11). He is the power for transformation in our lives. But having God's Spirit in our lives does not mean that we will not suffer. In the second half of today's reading, note the Holy Spirit's role for us in the midst of our sufferings. Then at the end, note the wonderful promises given to us! Four times in this chapter Paul refers to us as God’s ‘sons’. GNT translated ‘sons’ as gender-sensitive children, and that is an acceptable translation. But I feel this time to translate using the word ‘sons’ is better, but I will need to explain. Just as men feel a bit squeamish about being included in the ‘bride of Christ’ in Ephesians, I am sure there are some of the women listeners who will not feel comfortable being included as sons. But look for the treasure here! This passage and Ephesians 1:5 show that we are given legal adopted status as sons. In Roman law, the adoption of a son could not be undone. God has made the unchangeable decision that we would be his legally adopted sons and have all the rights and privileges of that status. Thank the Lord for our union with his Son, Jesus! Note that in the middle of the references to ‘sons’, Paul also used the Greek word that means ‘children’. The change between the two words is part of the reason that I think the use of ‘sons’ was important to Paul. GNT Translation notes: 1Sam. 23:25 Saul and his men set out to look for David, but [David//he] heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David.==== Ps 104:19 You [O Lord,] created the moon to mark the months; the sun knows the time to set.  The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that God provides.21 The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that [You provide//God provides].31 [O Lord, may your glory//May the glory of the Lord] last forever!May [You,//the] Lord be happy with what [You have//he has] made! 32 [You look//He looks] at the earth, and it trembles; [You touch//he touches] the mountains, and they pour out smoke.  33 I will sing to [You, O Lord my God//the Lord] all my life; as long as I live I will sing praises to [You//my God]. 34 May [You//he] be pleased with my song, for my gladness comes from [You//him].====Rom. 8:9 But you [no longer//do not] live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's [sons//children]. 15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's [sons//children], and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! [(Abba)] my Father!”19 All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his [sons//children].23 But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his [sons//children] and set our whole being free.28 We know that in all things God works for [the] good [of//with] those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. Rom. 8:33 Who will accuse God's chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty! 34 Who, then, will condemn [us//them]? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us!36 As the scripture [so realistically//truly//appropriately] [admits//says], “For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered.” 37 [No, but//That’s true, but//No,] in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!

1SAMUEL 23-24:As David fled from Saul, he went for help to Ahimelech the priest. He needed food and wanted to consult with the Lord, and it happened that Ahimelech also gave him Goliath's sword. All this resulted later in Ahimilech's death and the deaths of all of Ahimilech's family— except one. PSALM 104b:This psalm starts and ends with the same refrain, and it is the same refrain as in Psalm 103. This psalm expounds on the majesty of God— especially as seen in His creation. ROMANS 8b:The power behind the new lives that God wants us to live is the Holy Spirit. A side observation here: We can see that the Holy Spirit can equally be called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (vs. 9-11). He is the power for transformation in our lives. But having God's Spirit in our lives does not mean that we will not suffer. In the second half of today's reading, note the Holy Spirit's role for us in the midst of our sufferings. Then at the end, note the wonderful promises given to us! Four times in this chapter Paul refers to us as God’s ‘sons’. GNT translated ‘sons’ as gender sensitive children, and that is an acceptable translation. But I feel this time translating using the word ‘sons’ is better, but I will need to explain. Just as men feel a bit squeamish about being included in the ‘bride of Christ’ in Ephesians, I am sure there are some of the women listeners who will not feel comfortable being included as sons. But look for the treasure here! This passage and Ephesians 1:5 show that we are given legal adopted status as sons. In Roman law, the adoption of a son could not be undone. God has made the unchangeable decision that we would be his legally adopted sons and have all the rights and privileges of that status. Thank the Lord for our union with his Son, Jesus! Note that in the middle of the references to ‘sons’, Paul also used the Greek word that means ‘children’. The change between the two words is part of the reason that I think the use of ‘sons’ was important to Paul. GNT Translation notes:1Sam. 23:25 Saul and his men set out to look for David, but [David//he] heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David.====Ps 104:19 You [O Lord,] created the moon to mark the months; the sun knows the time to set.  The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that God provides.21 The young lions roar while they hunt, looking for the food that [You provide//God provides].31 [O Lord, may your glory//May the glory of the Lord] last forever!May [You,//the] Lord be happy with what [You have//he has] made! 32 [You look//He looks] at the earth, and it trembles; [You touch//he touches] the mountains, and they pour out smoke.  33 I will sing to [You, O Lord my God//the Lord] all my life; as long as I live I will sing praises to [You//my God]. 34 May [You//he] be pleased with my song, for my gladness comes from [You//him].====Rom. 8:9 But you [no longer//do not] live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's [sons//children]. 15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's [sons//children], and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! [(Abba)] my Father!”19 All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his [sons//children].23 But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his [sons//children] and set our whole being free.28 We know that in all things God works for [the] good [of//with] those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.34 Who, then, will condemn [us//them]? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us!36 As the scripture [so realistically//truly//appropriately] [admits//says], “For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered.”37 [That’s true, but//No,] in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! NLT Translation notes:Ps. 104:21 Then the young lions roar for their prey,stalking the food provided by [You, O] God.34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to [You, O God//him],for I rejoice in [in You, O Lord//the LORD].====Rom. 8:5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature [just] think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature [any longer]. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 [0/And] Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you lifed because you have been made right with God.

PRAYER FOCUS: ARE YOU NUMBERED AMONG HIS WARRIORS? ARE YOU A NUMBER OR ARE YOU COMMITTED? Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We place ourselves in Your Hands seeking to be under Your protective Wing to keep us safe from any of the firey darts of the enemy.. Place Your holy Angels around so that these moments we spend with You the enemy will be distracted and nothing will interfere with our time with You even technically to be open and under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit!  Lord we are here to give You all the Glory, praise and honor in thanksgiving.  We are Your Army Father, and we stand under the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ for it is by His Blood that we are made whole and clean to serve You and be one with Your heart all of our days! We lift up to You our nation O Lord that it may be cleansed of all that has been used to destroy us as a nation.  That all those who have willfully and deceptively brought us to the brink of destruction by their power hungry grabbing and keeping us captive to demonic attitudes of a world ruled by evil and those who would make themselves gods against You O Lord!  As You formed Your people in the wilderness under Moses now You are forming us and preparing us for the Next Wave of Your Might and Power as we prepare to remember the day You gave Your people the 10 Commandments and it is also a time to remember the birth of Your Church/Sacred Assembly by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit!  Lord that we will have open hearts hungry and thirsty for the Holy Spirit to fill us with Power.  A power that has been hidden from us and has been ignored for so long by shepherds who were more interested in fattening themselves than tending to the sheep as You have always wanted.  Lord, that we will have more shepherds who will be a direct imitation of of Your Son, willing to give their life for the flock.  Lord, as we did yesterday we remembered those who have given their lives to keep America free may we walk forward with a renewed spirit to be bold and courageous in professing Jesus Christ is Lord and America is a Kingdom Nation now forever. Father put special protection over our President Trump and all those who in this day are bringing to Justice the deep state that is filled with evil to make America a nation subject to the world order and other demonic ideas of captivity and control.  Give our AG William Barr  and all those who are working with him insights from the Holy Spirit to bring about the destruction and deliverance from the deep state.  Let more and more revelation come to make us more aware of how Your plan to save us as Light of Hope to the world is being fulfilled now by those You have anointed to lead us and You are continuing to raise up in this hour to be people of righteousness!  Lord as the prophets of our day have proclaimed You have a plan and it will be fulfilled in our day and we as Your people pray it to be so and are in agreement with Your Word for we are here to live it and be it now and for the future! Lord, in our moments alone with You let us see how valuable and worthy we are to You.  That You have bought us at a great price the Love poured out by Your Son, Jesus the Christ.  Lord we are more than just a number we are Yours our hearts are committed to You and we are here to do Your Will.  Let it unfold before us now as we will see as Your see and be the clay You will form into the Image of your Son so that the world will know You love us with an everlasting love and all we must do is regret anything that has displeased Your heart, so that we repent and know Your forgiveness covers us and so we are made one in Your Family that pleases You and delights Your heart.  Thank You Father in the Name of Your Son, Jesus in the Unity of the Holy Spirit! Amen! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7)

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, in the Name and the authority of Yeshuah we proclaim and decree in this hour renewed strength and renewed energy in these moments of battle to use the Hammer of justice to fall on all those who are corrupt and all those who hold office  either in the past or presently to face a choice either repent or suffer the consequences of their choices to destroy America from within.   Lord even if they were holding the trust of the nation in the highest offices in the land may they continue to be exposed and to face Justice.  Lord, your people have been under captivity long enough it is time to see the corrupt under Judgment.  Lord, continue to hear the prayers of your people as we repent and decree that now is the time to heal our lan d and make us the nation You have planned from all eternity! Father, we decree and declare that all those who have been appointed to work and serve in the Department of Justice be in righteousness.  That they be men and women of honor in service to our President Trump and our nation to weed out the corrupt and to prosecute those who have taken the bribe or used their office for personal gain and wealth.   Lord may all those who have hidden their sin of treason against our nation shake in their boots and truly be exposed that there is no where to run or hide facing the truth is all that they can and will do! Lord, your people are ready for the Hammer of Justice to fall and we will see Righteousness prevail! Father in these day we stand in Faith and face any fear that is spoken against us whether if be through the fear of the spread of the virus or any other issue of health that the enemy uses to stop America from  returning to its rightful position of recovery from all the plans of destroying America whether in  our economy or though a undermining of our moral character.  We decree and declare that we are a people who stand by the rule of laws that are just to separate evil from good and to protect the innocent and guiltless!  We are a people who obey just laws and abide true limitations that make each of us and honorable and valuable part of the Your Will for us in America and in Israel and any nation whose God is You O Lord!  It is time for Kingdom Nations to defeat all those who rule and reign by darkness and the evil in men’s hearts that we will see Your Kingdom come and Your Will be done and now and for all eternity! Father, we decree and declare that this Army of prayer warriors are united in spirit and truth that all forms of gossip, bickering and backbiting and disunity cease now!  That we are of one mind and heart in Christ Jesus and that as an Army armored up press forward in our battle to make the United States of America a nation truly a land of the free and the home of the brave under You Lord God!   That our traditions of prayer, fasting and repentance continue to prevail in our land and that we will continue to have men and women who will serve You Lord and represent us in our government so that we may fulfill the prophetic words that have been spoken over us that the days of the corrupt have come to an end! And we will see Your Glory in all that is unfolding in these days.  That by pentecost and outpouring the Holy Spirit will flow across the land and more of Your people will awaken to their great gift You have been bestowed on us will be used to make America a land for the launching of the Great Harvest You have planned!  What a great an awesome moment You have given us so we give You Glory, Honor and praise in Thanksgiving! Father, we decree and declare special protection for all those men and women who have exposed the evil ones who have promoted sex trafficking and all forms of perversion to our youth. Lord, we are especially mindful of those who are under going any form of persecution for revealing the truth.   That they will continue to have the courage and boldness to reveal ...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to you in a spirit of repentance for our lack of obedience to Your Laws!  Lord, we know that You gave Your children of Israel laws to keep and if they would keep them it would go good for them in the land of Promise!  You anointed Moses to lead them and through him taught them Your Laws. The beauty of these days of remembrance we see how You are always Faithful and all that You Promise You fulfill, but it is us Lord who fall and fail to fulfill our part of the covenant, but Your Love is everlasting and as we repent we are completely restored now because of what Your Son has done for us as we remember His Passion, Death and Resurrection in this these days.  Lord we have been grafted into our Family in to the Tree of Life!  We are so grateful and thankful for in this very hour You fulfill what You Promise: we are covered by the Blood of Your Son and so all that darkness and evil plagues that are around us is passing over us.  We are set free and walk through the waters that limit us  but You have spared Your people once again. Praise to Your Glorious Name!  Father we are here in awe  f what You have for us now in this hour and as it  tretches in our future as a nation set aside to do Your  ission to be Light for those who seek Your Word,  specially for Israel and all nations who follow us to call  esus our Messiah and Lord! Father we are so grateful for giving us an anointed leader in President Trump for he has even spoke of the glorious remembrance of what Your Son, Jesus has done for us.  Father, just as Your prophets for our day have stated the White House will again be House of Your Presence! Glory to You O Lord!  Thank You, Lord!  We are here to listen, to obey and fulfill what You ask of us in these days.  We are in deed grateful even though we have been asked to keep ourselves limited, it has become a time when we are more appreciative of our families, our friends and yes our neighbors.  Lord thank You for making Peace and calmness reign in our land!  We repent for any who have used this time as a time to cause rebellion and discord among us.  Lord through Your Holy Spirit bring conviction and repentance to those who will not learn.  Show them Lord that it is through Obedience to Your Word that we have abundant life!  Lord, Your Word is true if we have short term sacrifice we reap long term blessings!  Thank You Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit who is our comforter and friend to lead us during these days to discern true leadership from those who are wolves in sheep clothing are more selfish with greed to have power and might over us.  Lord, continue to separate the sheep from the wolves that we will be a People that You want us to be for we are covered by the Blood of Yeshuah/Jesus! We are here to obey and say clearly Your perfect Will be done in us as it is in heaven now and for all eternity! Father bless and protect this Your Army of Prayer Warriors and reveal Your glory as You have promised in this day as we celebrate and worship You in spirit and truth! Amen and Alleluia! Search Strike Force of Prayer Search for: Categories Action (7) Election (48) Elections (4) Event (2) How to Pray (14) links (15) Mark Taylor (71) National Alert (4) Opportunities with the Divine (5) Prayer Request (54) Prayers (325) Prophetic Alert (3) Testimony (19) Uncategorized (1) Website Updates (13) Archives May 2020 (11) April 2020 (10) March 2020 (10) February 2020 (8) January 2020 (14) December 2019 (8) November 2019 (12) October 2019 (14) September 2019 (17) August 2019 (24) July 2019 (24) June 2019 (17) May 2019 (15) April 2019 (12) March 2019 (12) February 2019 (13) January 2019 (15) December 2018 (10) November 2018 (14) October 2018 (17) September 2018 (22) August 2018 (24)

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS THE CHRIST, WE HUMBLY COME INTO YOUR HEAVENLY COURT!  We enter before your heavenly judicial system where nations are either judged or blessed.  We are asking that our case and our country’s book of destiny that You, Heavenly Father wrote before the foundation of the world, be opened in Yeshua’s/Jesus Name.  According to You Word through the prophet Jeremiah (29/11): For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you, are plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, so that I give you a future and a hope.  Righteous Judge based on Your Words we know that You did not send the Corona Virus to kill any of our fellow countrymen and cause the fear of death to reign supreme in our country!  By the authority given to us by Your Son, Our Lord Jesus the Christ we summon all that is evil that has created the Corona Virus and any demonic altars that are empowering it be stopped now and cease to exist. Father our Supreme Judge we speak through the given legal authority we have to prosecute this Corona Virus and all viruses that bring flu and illness into our land (and any nation whose God is You O Lord!)  Through Your Word Lord  we know that the earth is given to the children of men (Psalm 115/16) and that any evil come against us when we cry out to You in distress, You will hear and deliver us (2 Chronicles 20/9).  We know to through the prophet Isaiah You will not allow any weapon formed against us will not succeed and that peace, righteousness, security and triumph over opposition is our heritage from You!  But most importantly Your Son said we have authority over the power of the enemy and nothing in ay way will harm us. (Luke 10/19) Righteous Judge based on these Words we have legal standing in Your Supreme Court and further more we have God-given Dominion over the planet earth to contend for the destiny, peace and prosperity of our nation so that in Yeshua/Jesus mighty Name  so that the spread of the Corona Virus and any other virus that brings sickness into the land is to stop spreading! Heavenly Father as intercessors for our nation we repent for the sins of our forefathers and mothers to the present generation also and any national sins, especially the shedding of innocent blood, sexual perversion and bowing and worshiping false gods  that has given legal right to evil to invade our land and especially with this Corona Virus (all viruses).  So now by the Blood of Jesus the Christ wash away any generational and national sins.  Jesus the Christ has already paid the price for the redemption of all mankind!  Righteous Judge You search for righteous ones to build the wall and stand in the gap so that You would not destroy the land (Ezekiel 22/30)  So Father, we are here in the robe of Righteousness decreeing and declaring that we stand in the gap for the healing in our land.  We speak the words that this Corona virus and all evil viruses will not kill one more person in our land and we decree it in the name of  Yeshua/Jesus! Heavenly Father, we now ask that a Divine Restraining order be issued by Your Supreme Court against the demonically engineered plague and man made Corona virus and all other chemically produced viruses and biological warfare weapons!  Righteous Judge we ask that this Divine Restraining Order stop supernaturally any more spreading of this evil and stop any more killing of people in our land! Heavenly Father, we decree that any and all demonic entities or persons connected to this Corona Virus and other viruses be bound and brought to Justice in the Mighty Name of Jesus the Christ!  Heavenly Father we receive this Divine Restraining Order by Faith and decree and declare that You shall fulfill all the days of our life that You have written in our book of destiny long before You created us and so therefore we will not die before the appointed t...

It doesn't matter who you are, we all travel through dark and fearful places at some point in life – and during those times, it can be so darned hard to remember that God, God is in the Light business.   The Darkest Nights I am always so excited to be starting a new series of messages and that's what we are doing this week on the programme – and it is a series that I have called “Dark Night, Bright Light.” Dark and darkness – I wonder what those words mean to you? There are all sorts of connotations when we apply them to our lives. I remember when I was a young boy - even probably well into my teenage years – I was really afraid of the dark. I remember after dinner in the dining room, it was a long corridor – well it seemed a long corridor – especially in the dark. It was only about, I don't know, only eight or nine meters from the dining room to my bedroom. But I have to tell you, when it was dark, it was a long way for me to go. And I was afraid to walk from the light dining room into that dark corridor to my dark bedroom. Now in the house where we lived, we were blessed because there was a light switch for the lights at either end of the corridor so I could walk out of the dining room, turn on the light and the corridor was in light and then I could go to my bedroom – and I always used that switch. Now, we lived in a safe part of town and the house was secure and there was no logical or rational reason for me to be afraid of the dark – I just was – and it was a deep fear and I think a lot of kids go through that. It seems that darkness and fear, well, they often go together in life – young or old. Now the truth be known we need both – we need light and dark in this world. I love it when the sun goes down and it's time to go to sleep and again when the sun comes up in the morning and it's time to get up and get on with living life. That's a pattern we live by – it's a pattern of life. But imagine if it were only ever dark, how awful that would be. In some countries of course, far north and far south, they have many months of darkness. Now take a look at our own lives. If we look back on those dark times – those periods in life that we would rather forget – whether it was a broken relationship or sickness or the death of a loved one or some real financial difficulties or maybe you have been through a war and has seen people killed or been in prison. Perhaps you have seen everything that you have worked so hard for over so many years just go down the drain. Someone has hurt you incredibly deeply or someone you trusted – perhaps you have been through a time of depression or real loneliness or you are working so hard that you don't feel as though you have a life – that list just goes on and on and on. Life has its dark times, doesn't it? Maybe you are going through one right now or maybe, who knows, there is one just around the next corner or next year or the year after and that's why we are kicking off this series “Dark Night, Bright Light” because light is the opposite of darkness and when we are travelling through those dark times, light is the very thing that we need. The problem is it can be so hard to find; so hard to believe in or hope for and over these coming weeks, we are going to be spending some time with King David in Psalm 34. But before we go there, let's have a little foretaste about darkness and light. If you have got a Bible, I want you grab it; I want you to open it up at page 1 – Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 – the beginning. Here's what it say: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said “Let there be light” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day' and the darkness He called that ‘night'. And there was evening and there was morning – that was the first day.” I might hear you say, "Well, Berni, I know that passage and that's all well and good. You're talking about physical light here, that's fine but what about God shining His light into the darkness in my life?" We are going to talk about that shortly but the point that I'm making is this: creation tells us something about the Creator. You and I create different things because we are different. God, the very first thing He creates – the very first thing – is light. That tells us something about God but what a light! We tend to just think of the sun there; one of just an estimated trillion, trillion stars. God is seriously into light and that tells us something about who He is. Let's take a look at just another couple of verses in the Bible. There are so many of them that talk about God and light – Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 4: Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple and the court was full of the radiance and the glory of God. Words from Isaiah chapter 60, verse 19: The sun will no more be your light by day nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you for the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory. And perhaps my favourite of all, where Paul seems to bring it all together in Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6: For it is the very same God who said “Let light shine out of the darkness, that made His light to shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The Bible is full of references about God being our light and our radiance. Can you see why I have called this series “Dark Night, Bright Light”? Over these coming weeks I believed we are going to be transformed by God's Word about darkness and light. If you have just been through a "darkness" or you are going through one right now or you are going to go through one in the future, the Word of God is going to shine a light into that dark place – “Dark Night, Bright Light.”   The Wisdom of Hindsight As I said earlier in the programme we are going to spend some time in Psalm 34, this week and over the next three weeks. It's an interesting Psalm because it comes out of King David's life. It's a Psalm of praise for deliverance from trouble. So it is a Psalm written, if you like, with the benefit of hindsight. David has learned something – something about God in a dark time. Now we are not sure what that time was. The introduction to the Psalm says, “A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech so that he drove him out and he went away.” Now we don't have any other information about that. Abimelech was a judge; he was a leader of Israel; he was Gideon's son. Anyhow the fact of the matter is, even though we don't know the precise historical details it doesn't matter. David had to engage in some deception, it tells us; if was a fearful and scary time and he needed to escape. Now let's have a look at the first part of this Psalm. If you have got a Bible, open it at Psalm 34 – we are going to look at just the first eight verses today. This is what it says: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord, let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He answered me – He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look at Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him It's a beautiful Psalm! You see, it's David looking back on a difficult time. And he starts out be praising God – “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips,” because of God's faithfulness. And there's a purpose in him praising; a specific purpose. Look at verse 2. My soul will boast in the Lord, let the afflicted hear and rejoice. See, the purpose of this Psalm is to let the rest of us know when we are afflicted that God is faithful in those darks times so that we can hear that and rejoice. See, this Psalm was written for you and for me. Isn't God good? And David says, "You know why I am writing this Psalm? It's for you, you who are afflicted; you who are travelling through a dark and fearful time." You know why? Come and look at verse 3 again with me. David says: Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together. In other words so that you and I can rejoice together even though we might be travelling through dark times. We are getting the benefit of what David discovered in his dark and fearful time. And what he discovered, well, it is as profound as it is simple. Look at verse 4; this is what he says; this is the heart of this first passage for me. David says: I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. You know what happens in the darkness? In the darkness we become afraid and that fear immobilises us – fear stops us dead in our tracks. We just kind of sit there and we ache and fear eats away at our hearts like a quick spreading cancer and in that fear - remember, David was as he had been many times before, in fear of his life; real fear – David had more than his share of dark times – he had real fear. Let me say it this way – he was in deadly fear and in the midst of his deadly fear he did the thing that he had learned to do over all of those times in his life when he had been in danger – when he was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him for all those years – he did the one thing he knew to do – Psalm 34, verse 4: I sought the Lord and He answered me. David sought God – he'd cry out to God for help. The one thing that we can forget to do when we are frozen by fear is just to cry out to God – just to pour our hearts out to Him. And what a surprise, “God answered him and delivered him from all his fears.” I don't know about you but I can relate to that. In life and in ministry I come against giants of opposition all the time and I can tell you, some days they scare me – seriously. And we have a choice – we can just kind of sit there and tremble in fear and be completely immobilised or we can spend some time with God, crying out to Him in prayer and reading His Word and listening to Him – and He always delivers me from all my fears. David goes on to say this – verses 5 and 6 of Psalm 34: Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame. This poor man called and the Lord heard him and He saved him out of all his troubles. There it is – the light word "radiance". The Hebrew word that sits behind our English translation means literally ‘to beam or to burn with light'. It's an "over the top" kind of word – it's not a glow or a flicker or just a shine, but to beam and to burn with light and that's exactly what happens when we look to God; when we put our trust in Him in the middle of our darkness. See, in those dark times we are downcast; ashamed if you like, but David states this simple truth “This poor man called and the Lord heard him and saved out of all his troubles; He delivered him from all his fears.” This is such a humble and beautiful picture, isn't it? David, probably the greatest King that Israel ever had, saw himself just as a poor man who cried out to God in his darkness. Don't you love it how the Bible is packed full of this real life stuff – this stuff that's right down where we are? The Word of God meant for us here and now; right where the rubber hits the road - the light and the radiance of God in our darkness and fear - and all this out of a simple step that David took; so simple and yet when we are afraid, so difficult. “I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”   Taste and See God is very much in the "light" business, isn't He – taking our fear and replacing it with His radiance? Perhaps that's why David writes in Psalm 18, verse 28: It is You O Lord who lights my lamp; the Lord my God lights up my darkness. And again in Psalm 139, verses 11 and 12: If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light will become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to You. The night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to You. You get the impression that David is a seasoned traveller through darkness and he has learned some stuff that God would have us learn, each in our own way. Now let's head back to Psalm 34, verses 7 and 8, just to finish off our look at what David learned. Let's have a read: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Now there are two things here we need to get into; the first is the bit about the angel of the Lord. Let's have a look at verse 7 again: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. Angels have a kind of funny symbology these days in our society – fluffy little creatures with wings – but you do just a short study of the angels that God describes in the Bible and you discover they are a fearsome lot. Often God uses them as a messenger and the first thing the angel says is, "Don't be afraid". They deliver a specific message to God's people to protect them from trouble and often they appear as fearsome beings to protect God's people. Look at Second Chronicles chapter 32, verse 20: King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos cried out in prayer to heaven about this and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and the officers of the camp of the Assyrian King. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace and when he went to the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with his own sword. Get it? The angel is serious protection. Presidents or Prime Ministers or Kings or Queens all have their security contingents right around them when they travel. Well those security contingents have got nothing on an angel of the Lord. And you might say to me, "Berni, do you seriously believe in angels?" Absolutely! We can't see them but when we fear God; when we reverence Him – we will talk more about that idea next week – when we belong to Him, He sends His angel to encamp around us; to surround us; literally, to lay siege around us to protect us. How does David know that? Because he has been there; he has experienced it over and over again and that's exactly what he says in the next verse. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Now, this verse is so often quoted out of context "Taste and see" – suck it and see! When you are in the darkness; when you are afraid, David is saying, "Try this thing that I am talking about 'Taste and see that the Lord is good', you will be blessed when you take refuge in Him." It's like an invitation to you and me today from God. Come on, try it – I can hear the Spirit of God saying through His Word – "Come on, try it because when you take refuge in Me”. God is saying, “you will truly be blessed”. I don't know about you but God has seriously spoken to me today and encouraged me through His Word; He is in the light business and it's something that David discovered through long, hard experiences in darkness and fear. And he comes out the other side of that singing God's praises specifically for you and for me to hear. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name. I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called out and the Lord heard him and He saved him from all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good for blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Isn't that an awesome Psalm? People sometimes say to me, "Berni, why do you talk about this stuff? You know, is this Christianity thing for losers?" You don't have to be a loser to go through dark times – we all go through dark times – we all travel through difficult times. You know, a friend or a relative that is close to us dies young of cancer and we are left reeling and we think "God why has that happened?" We get retrenched; we lose someone else we love; we … – all sorts of things happen to us and at those times it feels like God has deserted us. Listen to David again: I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. In that darkness there is no light so bright as the light of God and His heart is to take a face that has been covered with tears and put His radiance on that face. God is a wonderful God. I want to encourage you to join me over the next three weeks as we further explore the Word of God and what God has to say about His light amidst our darkness. That's what this series “Dark Night, Bright Light” is all about.

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Beloved Father, We come to you with humble contrite hearts know it is our Faith in You and the work of Your Son, Yeshua that please You.  It makes us a part of Your holy Family, we are set apart to do a special work for You to spread the Kingdom and to defend the Truth as You have revealed it to us in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Words of Your Son which shows the way in which we should walk. To walk by faith and not the feelings of our fallen nature, but to walk in the new Mind of Christ.  To see one another as You see us worthy of the precious price of the Blood of Your Son.  We are important to You and You want to share Your heart with us and so Father we give You our hearts to share with You.  What You want is what we want and so we freely choose to follow Your Commands to love one another by loyal and faithful actions from a pure heart empty of all transgressions and iniquity.  No to sin and Yes to Love! No to fear and Yes to Faith! No to despair and doubt and Yes to Hope!  All because of the Love poured out on us by Your Son, Yeshua! Father in these days of unrest and turmoil we seek special protection for President Trump and all who are working with him in loyalty to follow that which You have placed in his heart to do bring America back from the brink of destruction to again be the Light on the Hill and a voice of Freedom through out the earth!   That the Hammer of Justice will rightly fall on all enemies who are resisting what has been prophetically pronounce over us.  That all of our enemies will be scattered and no weapon formed against us will prosper! Lord, it has been spoken that the witches, warlocks and others who worship a false god they call Satan is place curses, hexes and other evil expressions against President Trump.  Lord we stand against it for Satan is no go nor is he some kind of cosmic entity that has power over us or is some how equal to You in might and power!  Lord with You we laugh like the prophet Elijah of old against the prophets of Baal.   Scream louder maybe they will hear you!  There is no God but You O Lord!  There is nothing to fear for Your Holy Angels surround us and intercede in this battle.  That those who are wrapped up in this foolishness will be see all of their chanting and canting will come to naught for it is not Your Will and has nothing to do with Your Kingdom in our midst for as Your Son has said the gates of hell will not prevail!  This will all come to naught for it of the fragrance of the pits of Gehenna! Lord we know Your Will is with President Trump for  You have anointed him for such a time as this! And we will see as we pray and act our Faith that You are not done with America nor are You done with the Trump dynasty You have begun! Father, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem as our brothers and sisters in Israel remember today the 10th of Tevet fasting and praying to remember the loss of the First Temple by King Nebuchadnezzar that now is a time to look to the Messiah who is the Living Temple of true worship for You Father.  That the Israeli people will open their hearts to hear of Yeshua and that soon they will say His name with reverence and awe and as prophet Kim Clement spoke Israel is forever and Yeshua will be shouted from the roof tops in the Land that You have chosen.  Thank You Lord that we have a President who recognizes Israel and Jerusalem as its capitol and that soon we will one day be one new man both Jew and Gentile before You as one in the Spirit as Your Son has prayed over us to be! Father there is much turmoil and fear among people because of what President Trump has done in ridding us of an enemy and leader of hate in this world.  May we see even more of our enemies fall and loose any influence of those who are blind and following the false gods of Islam and other forms of pagan worship through out the earth.   That we are like our President to stand withou...

Lamentations 1-1-12- 3-21-27-Grief and Union with Christ---I. A Singular Voice for the People -o A familiar, singular voice--o The 'people'-Judah, Jerusalem, Zion, all her people -1-11a---o The 'singular voice'-I am despised - My sorrow -11b, 12--You O LORD, will keep them, You will guard us - How long, O LORD- Will You forget me forever--Psalm 12-7, 13-1--II. A Grief Leader, Guide, and Bearer-o The Laments of the 'weeping prophet' -2 Chr. 35-25- Jer., Lam.---o The -I- of the storm -Isa. 52-54- the Psalms---Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ---Isa. 53-4--o Leads you through a true grieving process -Pss. 42- 61, etc.---o A process on an eschatological trajectory -Psa. 73-----Is it not for you, all you who pass by- Look and see if there is any sorrow like My sorrow, which the LORD inflicted upon me, which the LORD inflicted on the day of His fierce anger.-

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We are here under the shadow of Your Wing knowing that we have nothing to fear as we enter the battle ground before us.  You are the Light for our feet to trample on the enemy’s ground that he has stolen and we are strengthened by Your Might to come against any force that stands in our way of marching into the victory You have planned for us.  We know we are protected by the shield of Your Mighty Angels who stand guard around us frightening the enemy as we proclaim Jesus is Lord and the gates of hell cannot defeat us.  We are Warriors in our positions to bring down and strike down any plots of the enemy for we can do all things in Christ Jesus.  Even in our weakness Your Might shines bright to keep the enemy in flight!  Resisting even the thoughts of evil and they will flee for we are here having the mind of Christ in all things for we are able to discern what is the will of God and all that is good and pleasing. Father in this hour we are thankful that You have given us President Trump to lead this nation in this time.  Lord we can see that more and more is changing for the better way.  We are thankful that those who are corrupt are being exposed and deposed from their places of power and influence.  More and more of the enemies of our America both foreign and domestic are facing the consequences of their actions and choices they have made to destroy what we have been given and has been passed on to us from our heritage. There are none so blind as those who will not see and none so deaf as those who will not hear, Lord even among the followers of Your Son, Yeshuah.  Lord, even among those who say they are shepherds of Your flock have to be exposed and deposed for lies and false teachings they have put upon us.  Lord let the cleansing continue and let the convicting power of the Holy Spirit expose the sin that must be removed and blotted out so that we can truly worship You in spirit and truth.  Lord we stand with You in all that You are doing in this hour! Lord continue to give president Trump wisdom and discernment in all the appointments he makes to our Justice system and to all those who are around him to advise and guide him even in spiritual matters.  Lord help him weed out those who oppose or attempt to block out his choices that will better our government and the direction of America in all of its dealing with other governments.  That there will be fair and honest negotiations in trade and other important matters of state.  Lord, show Your Mighty Hand in all that is taking place that is even rescuing the children from all forms of sexual perversion, trafficking and sacrificing in our land and in the nations of the world.  Lord as You have promised You are here to set the captive free and bring restoration into our lives in this day!  Your get all the Glory and Praise for all that is happening and changing. Father, we repent of any slander, gossip or back biting that we have been apart of either knowingly or unknowingly.  Lord even in our assemblies of worship wrong spirited  words are spoken and even believed about others who are standing in righteousness and Faith to speak out about the abuse and lies and deceit that has been preached and taught to us.  Lord open our minds and hearts to discern the Truth and not be so prejudiced over which Bible translation to defend or doctrine to be right.  Lord there is too much judgmentalis.  Lord as You warned us to check the beam in our own eye before helping our brother with the speck in his eye.  Lord  the cleansing of Your people mus t come first so that we will se all that we are praying for will come to pass as we practice the Love that your Son has shown us and taught us.  Your Word is our foundation and our rock that keeps us firm in times of the storm and unrest that is around us.  We trust You O Lord! Father, as Your Army is gathered here we are in that sacred p...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: WE ARE IN A SPIRITUAL CIVIL WAR WHICH SIDE HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO SERVE? THE DIVISION IS CLEAR GOD’S WILL OR MAN’S? FREEDOM OR SLAVERY? LIGHT OR DARKNESS?Heavenly Father,We humbly come before You to being You Love Honor, Praise and Worship! We are Your Prayer Army ready to do battle in the Spirit during this time of a civil war here in America. Our foes think they are mighty and have the power to win, but Lord we know it is deception for You O Lord have told us it is not by might and it is not by power but My Spirit that I will bring the Victory to you in spite of what your enemies say. Let the words choke in their throat and allow the Sword of Justice strike them down as we see it happened even in the night. You have promised when we walk with You in spirit and truth our enemies will be scattered and will be resoundingly defeated by You. Thank You Lord for we can see it happening even now as we pray and intercede in this moment with You!Father, the first thing on our agenda is to cover our President Trump seeking Your Holy Angels to surround him and keep him from his enemies and like King David or old defeat the enemy around him and keep all plots to overthrow him crushed by Your Heavenly Host! Lord, with our brothers and sisters who are boots on the ground in Your Army in Texas we come against the curse that was placed on Dallas with the horrible action against our beloved President Kennedy. Now Lord spring forth new life in Dallas and in all of Texas as our beloved President journeys there! Keep him safe from harm and all who are with him on this visit and especially all the people of Texas. Father, You are pleased with the Faith, Hope and Love You see expressed there! Grant them a renewed spirit of Freedom, true prosperity and a shining star of Love for America!Lord God You know of the division that is in our land and the forces who are here to destroy America, but we are here to intercede to overcome this division and to bring to Justice those who would destroy what You have given us in America. It is time Lord for the arrests to begin and those who are corrupt to fall from their pedestals of power and be crushed before the Cross of Jesus the Christ! Lord that more will be exposed who are in darkness and have aligned themselves with the puppet masters who have enslaved us. Lord as You Son spoke repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. So now Lord either repent or face the darkness you choose to be a part of. Lord for us who are Your Army we proclaim America is a Kingdom nation and if you do want to be a part of it away with you and find another land to call yours!Father, even among those who call themselves Christians there is such bickering, slanderous talk. Gossip spreading and accusations spoken without one thread of evidence. Lord we need to repent of this even more strongly so that we can be truly One as Your Son prayed, we would be one! Lord help us to change our vision of one another that we will see one another as Your Son has paid a great price for us through His Blood and now by Faith we have become a new creation and we are Your Family here on earth and want what you have in heaven. That we truly recognize we are a royal priesthood a people set apart to do Your Will and to love one another which so gives You Joy in us and mends Your Heart from how we have broken it by our petty grievances with one another. Lord, we are here as One in Faith and one Lord, Your Son, Yeshuah our Messiah!Lord as we are here to repair our nation, we also want to include our brothers and sisters who have joined us from other nations. That what we see taking place her will even happen there especially in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada the Netherlands and now even Germany. We know Lord this is all because of Your Holy Spirit leading us and guiding us to do work to start the Great Harvest You want in this time!

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We are here as Your Family giving You are heart and so we know we are Yours and You will never let us go only if we try to run from You and that is not going to happen today nor any other time no matter what the evil forces try to blow through our minds.  We are Yours, Lord and that is all we want to be!  Thank You for letting us know how valuable we are to You through the Loving Sacrifice of Your Son for us and You draw us close to You through the convicting Power of the Holy Spirit our special friend and guide>  Father we are so grateful to be here as one united in the spirit here on the line but also those who are with us in the spirit so that we are of one mind and heart to give you worship in spirit and truth.  We are here armored up and say with Isaiah here I am Lord send me! Father let Your Holy Warrior Angels surround us this day to keep us safe from the enemy’s attacks and schemes to stop us from spreading Your Kingdom on the earth!  Let these Angels assigned to us smash the enemies radar and break down the enemy’s frequencies so that we are attentive to Your Word and clearly hear Your Voice and follow Your Commands.  We are happy to have Your Angels here to assist us and remind us that it is Your Agenda we are here to fulfill!   Father, forgive us for making the enemy seem so strong as if he is like You!  He is not he has been defeated by Your Son and we are here to continue to fulfill what Your Son has left us to do until that Great and Glorious Day when we will be the Bride without spot and wrinkle and ready for the real Feast to begin.  Right now, Father we are here to do Your Will and fulfill the Agenda You have for us now here in America and around the world!  Your Kingdom come Your Will be done here as it is in Heaven! Father we intercede for our president Donald Trump and all those who are at his die to fulfill Your Plans for America.  Protect them and guide by the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit to make us a Kingdom Nation ready to defend and protect all who are Your Family here on earth.  Lord thank You that You led him to proclaim the Truth before the nations of the earth at the UN meeting!  Lord we are so grateful that You are using this man to speak fro us and to use his voice as a rallying call for us to make America what You have called us to be from the beginning!  Lord thank You for giving us a voice to confound our enemies both within in our land and those who hate us from afar.  Lord we proclaim that we are a Kingdom Nation and that by Faith we worship and serve the only True God.  Lord wash from us all those who do not worship You and those who have lied and deceived us as wolves in sheep clothing from the White House to houses of worship.  Let Your Justice be fulfilled on all who have led us astray or have hidden the Truth from us! Father on this day bring to naught all those who are screaming impeachment.  Fulfill what Your prophet Kim Clement told us impeachment will not happen.  Thank You, God for using this as a time a time to expose those who are opposed to Your plan for us no matter who they be a political leader or even a religious leader.  Now is the separation of the righteous from those in darkness and are committed to destroy what our history and tradition have truly made us a Christian Nation who worships the true God as a free people just as Your Have promised our father in Faith, Abraham when the prophetic word was spoken that You would save us from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us. And we would be free to worship You without fear holy and righteous in Your sight all the days of our life! Lord this day we proclaim in the Presence of the angels all around us Praise and Honor to You O Lord!  Lord protect our children and all those who are weak and feel abandoned and without hope that will see that Angels are her ministering to us as You command them to do!

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: PRAYER FOCUS: WE ARE THE IMAGE OF GOD FOR ALL TO SEE IN OUR DAY!  WE ARE THE LIVING IMAGE OF JESUS EVEN IN THE DARKNESS, SO LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! Heavenly Father, Mold us and form us into the Image of Your Son.  Continue the great work You have begun in us so that we will walk and be the Image of Your Son, Jesus to all You place in our lives to honor, love, instruct and share with.  May each of Your prayer Warriors gather here even more boldly be the Image of Your Son in our nation and so shine for all to see even in other nations seeking Your intervention and visitation.  So Father let us so shine the Light that You have place in us so that it will pierce the darkness around us and move the Kingdom forward and so help others to repent and receive Your Son as Messiah and Lord! So, shall it be from this moment forward! Father, bless all fathers and mothers with an awareness that they image You to their children and all members of their family.  Lord that we will watch what we say so that our children will see the Image of Jesus in our words and actions.  Wipe from their memories any false image of You that they all may see You are a Father who deeply loves Your children.  Lord that all of us may be one in heart with Your heart so that what You desire for them and created in them may be brought forth here on earth as it is in heaven.  Father our children are Your precious gift to us so Lord we give them into Your care and we are here to raise them up to know You and give You themselves as a living sacrifice on the altar of Love before You.  Thank You, Father for making us the mothers and fathers You have destined us to be in this age! Father we see the image of Your Son in all those You have anointed to lead us in this time.  It is not the sin we look to but to the sacredness You have placed in those of this hour.  We are grateful for President Trump and other world leaders like him, yes Lord even Boris Johnson the Prime Minister of England and other leaders like those in Japan, Brazil, Italy and around the world who are called to lead us into a new era of Your Kingdom here on earth.  Holy Spirit we are so grateful for the way You are moving across the earth so that the old-world order is destroyed and newness envelops the earth.  Lord that all of those who have for so long have held Your people in captivity for their own selfish gain and to give over to Satan that which is rightfully Yours!  We proclaim and declare that Israel, America and other nations of the world are Yours and the plans of the enemy stop now!  And Your Agenda of the harvest of souls will even now crest to a level to give You glory and hon or and praise! Father, we are grateful for the exposition of all that is corrupt in our assemblies of worship is displayed for all to see.  Thank You, Lord for raising up new shepherds who are committed to know You intimately and follow Your Command to guide Your Flock.  Continue to bless ministries like Omega Kingdom ministries and others who are changing and instructing others to be leaders in our day. That Jesus the Christ is the head of the Body and no other false gods or distorted interference will be over us!  Lord that we will see the end of the all these rules and regulations of the government on the national level and the state level will be brought to naught!  That we will live as a free people as we have declared in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and other documents that speak according to the principles You have given us through Your Word, the Scriptures.  Thank You, Lord that there is a return, a repentance, a complete turnaround to You O Lord as You originally created America to be by men and women who were willing to shed their blood to overthrow tyranny and the shackles of those who would make us slaves to man instead of servants of You our God! Father continue to make us aware that each of us w...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father,         We come to you with a humble contrite heart so that we can be cleansed from any stain or wrinkle on our garment of righteousness You have given us to show we are a part of Your Family. Father, we repent of anything that we have been involved with in regards to being disobedient to Your Commands or if we have in any way led others astray.  We know Lord that it is in true obedience that we show You our love just as Your Son said: if keep His word that You will come to be one with us now in a special visitation in this hour.  Lord we want Your visitation to be extended to a habitation with us!Lord, we are made worthy by the Blood of Your Son, so give You glory honor and Praise in thanksgiving. Father in this time we seek protection from all the attacks of the enemy that we see in the darkness of our day, but You O Lord are Light that leads us and we have nothing to fear because we trust You with all that we have and all that we do for You in spreading the Kingdom here in America and around the world through our prayers and the love we put into action by Faith.  Keep us off the enemy’s radar and scramble His frequencies so that we are attuned to You and stay in Your Vibration so that our song in our heart will be one with Your Heart! Father we seek the continued protection of our President Trump, his wife and family and all those who are close to his heart as friends and fellow workers to bring about the Agenda You have place in him.  Lord that the spirit of David that You have placed on him continue to make him bold and honest in his confronting the enemy both here and abroad.  That You o Lord pour Wisdom and Heavenly Guidance to bring Justice and to bring down the strongholds of the enemy which we call the deep state and all the evil globalism that has stolen our freedom and made us a captive people.  Now Lord, we stand with this man You have anointed to lead us and may the mouths of those who mock and ridicule and hate him be silence and fall from their pedestals of influence be brought under the Hammer of Justice to face the consequences of their choices.  Wake up even those who say they are Christians or call themselves never Trumpers that they may realize what Your plan is through this man and that it is time to stand with him or be devastated by Your Power and Might that protects him. Lord that we will have a true return to understand the great Gift You have given us by creating through our founding fathers and mothers a nation that is truly based of the principles that You have given us through the Scriptures. Lord that those who have lied and deceived us by twisting what we have for their own greedy ends be brought to naught and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our day be seen in a great awakening and harvest that has begun.  We give You glory, honor and praise and thanksgiving for what is truly happening in America and other nations who are calling on the Name of the Lord and are lifting You up as the only true God. Lord we seek that you lift the burden of debt off Your people and that in this hour we begin to see even more of riches of the wicked shift into the  hands of the righteous and those who will be good stewards to spread the Kingdom and to truly take care of the widow and the orphan and like in the book of Acts we will see none of the brethren in lack.  This is that time that we become aware of how blessed we are in following your Commands and that which has seemed impossible is possible because of our Faith in You!  Lord that we will see that true prosperity is a sign from You that we are the head and not the tail, that we are more than conquerors and that we are winners because we follow and love Your Son, Jesus the Christ who never lost or failed!  So too we are Your children and You want the best for us now and for all eternity.  Not only here in America but around the world where t...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: WE STAND IN GOD’S FAVOR! SO WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CAST OUT DEMONS. RECOGNIZE AND USE IT!Heavenly Father,Thank You for pouring Your Favor on us f or such a time as this.  We come before You with humble contrite hearts because we now all that we have and all that we have been given are from You and You alone! We know that You have surrounded us with Your Holy Angels to protect us from any of the attacks of the enemy.  You keep us off the enemy’s radar and scramble the enemy’s frequency.  We are here Father to hear Your Heart and follow Your Commands to Your Will so that we live in Freedom given us by the Love of Your Son.  We are so grateful for such Favor from Your mighty Hand!Father, as the leader of this band of Prayer Warriors I intercede for all You have drawn to be a part of this ranch of Your Army called the Strike Force of Prayer.  Lord touch each one with Your Divine Favor and may there be only unity among us.  Lord that we will each see that there is no jealousy or comparison on who is favored more or who has been given more talents. Each of us is favored by You O lord help us to develop our personal relationship with You so on that day You will say to each of us: Well done good and faithful servants, for I know You and you know Me! Lord deepen our relationship with You and to make us to know Your heart and to fulfill the Love You give us by loving You in return.  We confess and seek forgiveness if we have betrayed Your heart in anyway.  Drawing close to You Father is all we seek!Father, because You have favored us through Your Son, Jesus, we know we have been given authority and He told us we can do more beyond what He did so Lord that is what we are here for to see things change in history because of our repentance and prayer.  We see it Lord happening now here in America and around the world.  The defeat of the enemy is happening Lord!  We see that Justice is being brought into our land and we say even more Lord so that our land is purified of all that has made us captives and limited our freedom.  May those who have deceived us and lied to us be ever more be exposed and made to give back all that has been stolen and make recompense for all those who have been harmed and abused by their selfish greed and selfish pleasures. Thank You, Father for the turn around that is taking place as more and more we are aware of Your Might and Power over the enemy is happening now!Father through the authority given us by Your Son we say to enemy’s forces who are into child and sex trafficking cease and desist!  Exposure of your sin is before us so either repent or face the consequences of your actions now.  Lord it makes no difference who they are whether they be in high office or have fame and fortune that they face Justice and their perversions be stopped in our land and any land that proclaims Jesus Christ is Lord! Lord, may the riches of the enemy be brought to naught and to be given to Your people so that Your Kingdom will spread and reign over us through those who are righteous in leading us to be one nation under You O Lord.Father we continue to seek protection for president Trump, his wife and family and those around him who are true and can be trusted.  Lord weed out those who are betrayers even among those who are his counselors from among those who call themselves religious leaders.  We intercede that President Trump concentrate only on Justice and that soon he will declare a day of Fasting and prayer for our nation as other Presidents have done in the past so that we will truly be united in recognizing that there is no other God in our land but You O Lord!  Protect those in the justice Department and Law Enforce, Border Patrol, First Responders and all others who are her to serve and protect our People.  Lord again weed out and expose those who are betrayers of the trust we have given them that they will face full...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: HAVING PURE HEARTS TO WAGE WAR AND TAKE BACK ALL THAT HAS BEEN STOLEN! OUR HEARTS ARE PURE SO WE CAN SEE GOD!Heavenly Father,We come to You today with hearts filled with Praise and Thanksgiving for all that You have done for us because we have given our hearts to Your Son, Jesus who is our Messiah and Lord!  We may not at time say it right but we know that You hear us because You know our hearts and You have accepted us as Your Family whom You have turned into Prayer Warriors in this Your Holy Spirit has named the Strike Force of Prayer. Father, we know we are under the shadow of Your Wing and that You do keep us off the enemy’s radar during this sacred time with You.  Keep us listening on your frequency and let the enemy camp be in confusion and chaos because they are in his frequency which brings darkness, but we rejoice because we are in the Light and we are covered by Your Love.  So grateful Lord that we are Yours and You hold us in Your Strong Grip!Father, we are armored up to run into the battle You have directed us to fight in this day! Father we seek a destruction of the influence of the spirit of Jezebel in this Your Army of Warriors.  We are here to have pure hearts.  We will not tolerate any of the jealousy, competition or other accusations that this spirit of Jezebel makes us among us Your Prayer Army.Holy Spirit guide us to weed out any who align themselves with this abomination that the spirit of Elijah must face in this hour.  We are her to honor and glorify You O Lord!  As Elijah of old destroyed the prophets of Baal, we too stand firm in our faith and the authority given us by Your Son to strike down this spirit in any way in our midst!  Be gone spirit of Jezebel into the pit where you came from and where you belong!  Thank You, Father for purifying our hearts now and into eternity!Father also in this time we come against the spirit of Leviathan who is a twister of the Truth and even the very words of Scripture.  Just as Satan tried to trick Your Son in the desert by quoting the Scriptures, we too face it in our day.  There are too many who quote Scripture but do not live it in our land this day.  Bring down all those who are in leadership of being shepherds in the midst of Your Flock.  These wolves in sheep clothing who are an abomination to You as they try to lead us into a one world religion and bind us to worship of Baal. Lord enough continue to expose them and may they face the Justice they deserve for all of the lies, deceit and trickery they are a part of.  Lord continue to purify our assemblies and bring us into the move of the Holy Spirit that has been started so that we can return to the Book of Acts and be committed as Peter and John and say “I have neither silver or gold, but what I do have in Jesus the Christ: I say arise Walk!”  Lord that we will say to others be healed in Jesus name!  All that Jesus the Christ has told us to do we will do in His name now and every day You give us to do our part of spreading the kingdom throughout our nation and to those nations who are hungering for the Good News!   Father, this is a time when so many falsely accuse our President Trump and other good righteous men and women who are here anointed to serve You in the capacity of leadership and guide us into the way of Peace.  May all those who are speaking mockery or scandalous words or accusations that are unfounded be silenced and that they receive that which they curse on others come to be upon them and to face the consequences of their words.  You have told us we are responsible for all that we say and so Lord we are here to use our tongues to bring words of healing and encouragement to all that You have given us to mentor, teach, instruct or disciple to expand Your Kingdom.  We know this is a precious responsibility and so we are here with pure hearts to fulfill it and so You will get all the Glory and Hon...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:Heavenly Father,    As we start our prayer shield us from the influence of the enemy, especially keep us off of his radar and jam all of his frequencies whether they be distractions or communication blockages either technical or spiritual.   We are here for You, Father to give You glory, honor, praise and thanksgiving as we worship You in spirit and truth as Your Son, Yeshuah has taught and shown us!Father, first of all as we begin You have placed it on my heart as leader of the Strike Force of Prayer to pray over all those You have brought to join our ranks those presently on the line with me now and those who are united with us in spirit now and into the future as You have drawn us together.Lord, I thank the Holy Spirit for increasing our numbers daily and for all the ways that You are leading this part of Your Kingdom Army to do battle and follow Your Commands.  Bless and protect everyone that is a part of this remnant of Your Kingdom to charge and to take back all that the enemy has stolen and to gather even new ground here in America and across the earth.Holy Spirit You have made the Strike Force of Prayer National and now International to You be all the Glory and Honor!  We know this is Your Work and so we place ourselves at You disposal to do all that You have planned to be a part of.  Lord we here the whisperings to continue to cover all the 50 states and territories of the USA and the nations of the world who join us like England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland an so many others yet to be a part of Your movement of Prayer to spread the Kingdom now and into eternity.  Glory to You O Lord!  Inspire this team of Prayer Warriors to use all of their talents and anointing to move to the front line and do as You call them to do!  You will get all the glory! Amen.Now, Father we bring to You today our focus in prayer to strike down the cursings that go on in America and across the earth.  Lord by your authority we strike down all the vexes, and spiritual attacks that are brought against our President Trump and all those You have anointed to serve in leadership among Your People here in America and the nations hungering for freedom to worship You and proclaim the Jesus is Lord!Lord too many have allowed the sorcery of our day to over power our thinking.  You see it as an abomination to glorify such actions as psychic words found in books and all forms of media entertainment.  Father, we Your Warriors repent of how we have in any way been a part even innocently of this attitude that pervades our culture. We repent of any involvement either knowingly or unknowingly of those means used to enslave us through false doctrine, false religions and fleshly temptations of the the spiritists and all forms of sorcery!  Purify our land O Lord and the hearts of all who call You Lord and Messiah!  Especially in Your sacred land of Israel and Your United States of America and those nations who call You Lord and King of Kings!Holy Spirit we seek Your gift of Wisdom to discern those whom You want to give us as leaders in government and in our Assemblies of Worship, which we now look to the new form You are showing us call home congregations!  Thank You Lord for making the Strike Force of prayer a part of it and bless all efforts to sweep across our land so that the healing and comfort will be given to Your People who feel abandoned and betrayed by the dying form of church system that has held us captive too long.  Thank You for this marvelous challenge and movement that You have anointed for such a time as this and for all those you have called to put into effect now!Father, during our time we see You are lifting us out of the Babylonia Captivity that we have been suppressed with here in our United States of America and other nations too.  Just as You freed Your People Israel from the bondages of captivity in their day now is our tim...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio:PRAYER FOCUS: CROSSING THE BRIDGE FROM IMPURITY TO PURITY BY DECREEING AND DECLARING THAT THE BLOOD OF YESHUAH HAS CLEANSED AND PURIFIED US!Heavenly Father,Under Your Protective Love we come as Your warriors to do battle to spread Your Kingdom here in the United States of America and throughout the earth! Through the Protection of Your Heavenly Host keep us off the enemy’s radar and scramble all of his frequencies and his attempts to interfere in our sacred time together.  Let all confusion, rebellion, iniquity and chaos and sin remain in his camp as we are followers of Your Son, Yeshuah our Messiah and Lord. We know we are purified and made worthy to worship and give you glory because of the Blood that has made atonement for us and made us a new creation to fulfill Your Plans for us to be Your Family as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever!Father, as we meditate and consume Your Word we are in a time of Visitation with You!  That Your Joy is to be one with us as You are with Your Son and because of Him we are now assured of Your everlasting Love for us.  You cherish each of us a special treasure that You have created in earthen vessels and You hold us in the Palm of Your Hands.  We are so grateful that You have called us and made us for such a time as this. We are grateful for pour past and our heritage of Faith that has been passed on to us by the generations who have sacrificed to pass on to us this great nation under You as the only and true God we worship.  No other false god or religious ideas matter to us but You, O Lord!   Forgive us for foolishly allowing other religions and ideals creep into put us in the turmoil we endure in our day.  Lord we say Enough.  The United States of America is Yours and we look to You O Lord to make us one nation under You with Liberty and Justice for all!Father, we repent on behalf of ourselves and any who have foolishly spoke words of mockery, insult and slander against the anointed You have given to lead us during these days of change and return to what America was established to be and do!  Lord we intercede for President Trump, his wife and family and all who are aligned with him in his administration and all elected officials who in righteousness walk with him to push forward Your Plan for us and the generations to follow!  As Isaiah the prophet has send: here I am Lord send me!We are here to speak and defend the Truth and to support all that is Just and True.  Yes, Lord give President Trump the Wisdom he needs to stop the enemy’s forces among us.  That those who have been treasonous and stood for betrayal and have taken the bribe continue to be exposed and brought to Justice, no matter who they are or what political affiliation or for that matter what religious affiliation they have.  From the White House to our house we want our land purified of the filth that has been accumulated and brought about by all those who hate instead of love the Gift You have given us.O Lord we intercede for all the children, women and men who have been victims of sex trafficking and the abuse and molestation of their innocence.  Father we repent on behalf of all that they have suffered and we seek total restoration for them and a healing of all their memories and experiences so that they will feel Your Love has restored their innocence and that they are a new creation in Christ Jesus! Lord, continue to give strength and courage to all the men and women who are making a difference in these hurt ones lives by their rescuing and saving them from the clutches of these evil ones.  May the Hammer of Justice continue to smash the likes of these perverts and their lusts of the flesh which You abhor!  O Lord let Justice prevail and all those who have had any part of this on the earth receive the punishment they deserve now!  As You place before us; Choose what You want Life or Death. Goodness or Evil,

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come before You as King David of old.  He sang, “A clean heart create for me O God, renew within me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from before Your Face, nor take from me Your Holy Spirit.” Father in that spirit of humility we come before You knowing that You are near us and always listen to the hearts of Your children.  We are here Father at this time to give You honor, glory, praise and thanksgiving as we celebrate Your Divine intervention into our lives and the lives of our nation of America! As we are gathered here, Father, keep us under the shadow of Your Wings and put a hedge of protection around us, around our nation a wall of protection from any invasion of the enemy or his forces who attempt to storm our gates!  Keep us off the enemy's radar.  May all of his plots of destruction, anxiety, unrest, chaos and rebellion stay in his camp and among his followers so that we are safe and preserved in our battle to continue to live in righteousness and spread the Kingdom here in our land and to all the earth and its people. Lord during this day in the tradition of Faith from the times of the Old Testament we remember what is taught in the Book of Esther as You guided Your people then so do so now in our day.  As Your people faced the treachery of Haman so to in our day we face treachery of those who hate us as Americans that believe and follow Your Son, Yeshuah.  Not only in our land but also in lands that do their best to live by Your laws and Commands.  Father like Esther and Mordecai we are here to fast and pray to continue in our fight to change the laws that persecute Your people who believe in Yeshuah and laws that bind and restrict the freedom of Your people.  Continue to bless the efforts of president Trump and those who are with him to continue to bring change and re-establishment of our foundation in You O Lord! Father, we intercede at this time for all the women who are like Esther, obedient servants of King Jesus, to be encouraged, supported and promoted to do what they are destined to do in our day.  Women who have taken on roles in our government, judges, teachers, professors, leaders in business and other areas of our life but especially those women who call themselves wives, mothers, daughters and sisters in such a time as this.  Lord we proclaim and decree over them protection and covering of love and honor for all that You have created them to be and do in our land and any nation on earth.  Lord that true honor and respect will be in the hearts of men to be at their side as You had intended from the beginning and has been restored through Your Son, Yeshuah, by His example of sacrificial love.  Thank You Father for the restoration that is taking place in our day that we see the equality and respectful acts one to another in Yeshuah! Father we place a shield of protection around those who are like Esther and Mordecai to reveal the evil plots and intents of those who hate and promote hate through all the ills of the isms that dominate our culture and the atmosphere in which we live.  Protect all the “whistle blowers” anyone who works to expose the evil around us like Liz Corkin, Greg Hunter and so many others that are arising in our day. Lord we are grateful that they are willing to risk even their lives to revealing the Truth and making more and more of us aware of what we are facing.  Making us aware that evil around us is now exposed and that the hammer of justice will fall on those who are caught and if they will not repent and make atonement for what they have done then face the consequences of the evil treachery they have done or been a part of!  Father, we know their time to face what they have done is now.  Keep us of one mind and heart to be found on the the side of Truth and Justice! Father we seek the overturning of laws like the 501 c3, the IRS and other unconstitutional laws and obli...

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: Heavenly Father, We come to You in a spirit of repentance that we may be completely cleansed of all that may defile us.  That we may walk in Your Presence without the stain of sin washed in the Blood of Your Son, Yeshua. Lord that our temples be cleansed of any idols or false gods.  That we walk covered by the robe of Your Righteousness and enter Your courts with Praise and Thanksgiving for all that You have done for us and having called us to be members of Your Kingdom Army in this hour.  We have heard Your call: Whom shall I send?  We are here Father, send us!  Lord in this moment we are armored up with Your Word and use the weapons You have given us authority to use to cleanse the temple as Your Son, did to wipe out the false leaders and money changers from our Assemblies/Churches and especially from the land of America! Father as we enter this time before You keep us off the enemy's radar!  Allow no infiltration of the enemy or his forces to stop what we have here Lord an Assembly of Your Prayer Warriors battle ready and willing to run to the front lines to cast out demons, raise the dead and bring defeat to the enemy as You have done and do through us even now as we pray.  Give us boldness of heart to speak and follow the prophetic words o Mark Taylor and others who point the Your Way in this battle to save America, Israel and any nation whose people rise up to be a part of Your Kingdom here on earth. Father in listening to the words of Your prophets like Kim Clement and what Mark Taylor is saying in our day that Your Temple the church is in a process of cleansing that we are to move away from any connection to Baal and the false gods promoted by the 501 c3 and any other incorporation that makes the church an entity instead of being of pure spirit and the Truth as You Son, Yeshua began!  Lord we need more awareness of what You are doing in our day tha You are exposing the corruption of the church system that has blinded us and led us way from the true message of the Good News.  Lord this is a time when the exposure of sin in our churches will bring devastation to many but You will have a Bride without spot or wrinkle. Lord cleanse of our sin and make us Holy is our plea! Father, we know that this is a time of the separation of the wheat from the chaff and You will continue to expose what has been going on behind the scenes of leadership in government and the church our assemblies.  Lord exposure is good for it gives us the opportunity to repent if we are wrong and to walk away from all the false idols and false leadership that we have blindly believed in and have given our tithes and offerings to.  Lord this is a time of separation but it will also bring about true unity of those who truly want to be disciples of Your Son and are willing to make personal sacrifice to follow Him  in this day for we shall see the new thing that You are doing in our day.  Glory to You O Lord we want Your Will and not our will.  We want to see as You see! We want Life abundantly as Your Son has given us!  We continue to pray to protect those who are anointed by You for our time like President  Trump and all the righteous men and women being put in positions of leadership both in the government and in our churches/assemblies. Father there is much to be don to continue the cleansing You have started by the exposing of the vile and despicable things that are being done through child trafficking, sexual perversion from homosexuality to transgenderism all forms that pervade our culture. We are not here to live by culture but here to follow the morality that You have given us in the Scriptures and by the example of Your Son, Yeshua and all those who have gone before us that have lived a life that has brought them the gift of eternal life with You.  Ours is soon to come as we do our part now to spread the Kingdom and live in our land of America under Your ru...

[powerpress] Heavenly Father, Wrap us in Your Arms for complete protection from the enemy and his evil forces and his plans against us. As Your repentant children we look to You O Lord as our source of all we are and have and so we give Your all the glory, honor and praise and thanksgiving in all of our words and actions of this...

"When we are weary and our voice is gone, Lord in Your mercy You will fill our lungs and with every chorus that we're carried through we will sing of grace and gratitude." Setlist: Still My Heart / Whatever I Will Face / Grace and Gratitude   Still My Heart Oh still my heart, I want to hear You Oh still my heart, I want to hear You Lead me to that sacred place Where all my distractions fade And Your voice rings clear   Waiting on You, waiting on You I'll keep waiting on You You are worth the wait   Whatever I Will Face You are faithful, Lord I know this to be true There's no darkness that Your light will not shine through When my sails are ripped and worn You are peace amidst the storm I will trust, always trust in You   'Cause Father You are good and I shall ever praise Love You when You give and when You take away Your mercy will endure Above all else I hold this true Whatever I will face I'll face with You   In the battle though the ground may shift and sway You are constant and Your promise is the same Under burden I should fall But by Your grace I stand up tall I will stand, always stand with You   In the sickness though there's weakness in my flesh I will not faint. You O Lord are hope and strength Though the suffering is long At my weakest You are strong I will lean, always lean on You   In the victory when I finally come to rest I will look back having passed through every test And recount the many ways You were faithful through my days And I will go finally home with You   Grace and Gratitude When we're surrounded by the best of friends We will be thankful for the gifts You give And when we are lonely Lord we still have You So we will live with grace and gratitude   When we are wealthy in the eyes of men We will be thankful for the gifts You give And when we have nothing Lord we still have You So we will live with grace and gratitude   Whatever the seasons bring You, O Lord remain the same Whatever the

"When we are weary and our voice is gone, Lord in Your mercy You will fill our lungs and with every chorus that we're carried through we will sing of grace and gratitude." Setlist: Still My Heart / Whatever I Will Face / Grace and Gratitude   Still My Heart Oh still my heart, I want to hear You Oh still my heart, I want to hear You Lead me to that sacred place Where all my distractions fade And Your voice rings clear   Waiting on You, waiting on You I'll keep waiting on You You are worth the wait   Whatever I Will Face You are faithful, Lord I know this to be true There's no darkness that Your light will not shine through When my sails are ripped and worn You are peace amidst the storm I will trust, always trust in You   'Cause Father You are good and I shall ever praise Love You when You give and when You take away Your mercy will endure Above all else I hold this true Whatever I will face I'll face with You   In the battle though the ground may shift and sway You are constant and Your promise is the same Under burden I should fall But by Your grace I stand up tall I will stand, always stand with You   In the sickness though there's weakness in my flesh I will not faint. You O Lord are hope and strength Though the suffering is long At my weakest You are strong I will lean, always lean on You   In the victory when I finally come to rest I will look back having passed through every test And recount the many ways You were faithful through my days And I will go finally home with You   Grace and Gratitude When we're surrounded by the best of friends We will be thankful for the gifts You give And when we are lonely Lord we still have You So we will live with grace and gratitude   When we are wealthy in the eyes of men We will be thankful for the gifts You give And when we have nothing Lord we still have You So we will live with grace and gratitude   Whatever the seasons bring You, O Lord remain the same Whatever the

Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord,We have waited expectantly for You; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls. In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord], Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Though the wicked is shown compassion and favour, He does not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly, And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord. Isaiah 26. 8-10 Have I got the message yet? I must separate myself! For thou art an holy people unto the Lord Thy God.

This is week 22 in an extended series on the Book of Psalms. Today's teaching is by Ben Cox, Ministry Leadership team member at theHeart church in Boone, NC.   Psalms 141-144 David was a person who made it a priority to pursue God with a passion!                           DAVID'S PURSUIT 1) David did not pursue the Lord in a performance-based way to win God's favor; or in a religious duty way; he did it with a deep awareness of his desperate need to connect with God/Love on a deep level.     Psalm 141:1-2 O Lord I call to you; come quickly to me, Hear my voice when I call to you. May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.   Psalm 142:1-3a I cry aloud to (You O Lord); I lift up my voice to (You O Lord) for mercy.                 I pour out my complaint before (You); before (You) I tell my trouble. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who watch over my way.   Psalm 143:1&7-9 Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.   DAVID'S PURSUIT 2) David pursued the Lord with a healthy mistrust of his human nature and a deep awareness of his need to trust the Lord to do for him what he could not do for himself.   Psalm 141:3-5 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.   Psalm 143:2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.   DAVID'S PURSUIT 3) David pursued the Lord with a keen awareness of a real battle taking place between  the forces of good and evil, darkness and light, the Lord and Satan.   Psalm 141:5b-7 … my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers. Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken. They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”   Psalm 142:6 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.   Psalms 143:3-4 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.   Psalm 143:9-12 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name's sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.   1 John 1:8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.     SOCIAL MEDIA: TWITTER & INSTAGRAM #150Daysofpsalms  @theheartboone        

Whenever we feel tired of waiting for God's answer to our prayers, His grace enables us to move forward. Trusting in His grace means we don't have to strive and struggle through this life to prove ourselves and to make it on our own. God sometimes delays, but He always comes. "And those who know Your name put their trust in You, for You O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." -Psalm 9:10

The Wonder of the Rain I just wanted to keep on worshiping. It's just been incredibly sweet to me this morning. Just the visions of God, hearing the children singing all the hymns, these are some of my favorite songs. Eric, I don't know if you did it for me, personally, I hope not, because I think that it was a rich time of fellowship for all of us and what a sweet time of worship. Now, our joy is to turn to the word of God. Our God does unsearchable wonders, Amen. Beyond all possible human comprehension. Now according to Job 5, one of those wonders is the miracle of rain. It says in Job 5: 9-10, that God "performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He bestows rain on the Earth, and sends water upon the countryside." Some time ago, I was reading a devotional written by John Piper about this passage, incredible meditation. Just want to quote some of what he said. He said this: "Is rain a great and unsearchable wonder wrought by God? Picture yourself as a farmer in the Near East, far from any lake or stream. A few wells keep the family and animals supplied with water. But if the crops are to grow and the family is to be fed from month to month, water has to come on the fields from another source. From where? Well, the sky. The sky? Water will come out of the clear blue sky? Well, not exactly. Water will have to be carried in the sky from the Mediterranean Sea, over several hundred miles and then be poured out from the sky onto the fields. Carried? How much does it weigh? Well, if one inch of rain falls on one square mile of farmland during the night, that would be 27,878,400 cubic feet of water, which is 206,300,160 gallons, which is 1,650,501,280 pounds of water. That's heavy. So how does it get up in the sky and stay up there if it's so heavy? Well, it gets up there by evaporation. Really? That's a nice word. What's it mean? It means that the water sort of stops being water for a while so it can go up and not down. I see. Then how does it get down? Well, condensation happens. What's that? The water starts becoming water again by gathering around little dust particles between .00001 and .0001 centimeters wide. That's small. What about the salt? Salt? Yes, the Mediterranean Sea is salt water. That would kill the crops. What about the salt? Well, the salt has to be taken out. Oh. So the sky picks up a billion pounds of water from the sea and takes out the salt and then carries it for three hundred miles and then dumps it on the farm? Well it doesn't dump it. If it dumped a billion pounds of water on the farm, the wheat would be crushed. So the sky dribbles the billion pounds water down in little drops. And they have to be big enough to fall for one mile or so without evaporating, and small enough to keep from crushing the wheat stalks. How do all these microscopic specks of water that weigh a billion pounds get heavy enough to fall (if that's the way to ask the question)? Well, it's called coalescence. What's that? It means the specks of water start bumping into each other and join up and get bigger. And when they are big enough, they fall. Just like that? Well, not exactly, because they would just bounce off each other instead of joining up, if there were no electric field present. What? Never mind. Take my word for it. I think, instead, I will just take Job's word for it. I still don't see why drops ever get to the ground, because if they start falling as soon as they are heavier than air, they would be too small not to evaporate on the way down, but if they wait to come down, what holds them up till they are big enough not to evaporate? Yes, I am sure there is a name for that too. But I am satisfied now that, by any name, this is a great and unsearchable thing that God has done. I think I should be thankful - lots more thankful than I am." Friends, God is the only one who can send rain. And it is to His glory, the Scripture says, to open His hands and satisfy the desire of every living thing. And one of the ways He does that is with rain. Now, in Hebrews 6, the author speaks of the blessings of land receiving the consistent rain from heaven, and that produces a harvest for the farmer. Look at Verse 7, "Land that drinks in the rain, often falling on it, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But on the other hand, he also speaks of land that drinks in the same rain from God, but produces nothing but thorns and thistles." Verse 8, "But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed, in the end, it will be burned." I think in this passage, the Word of God is likened to rain. It's likened to rain. And these two outcomes are meant to give us a sense of two different responses to the Word, to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the ongoing ministry of the Word of God. Some people hear the Word and believe it and by perseverance, produce a harvest for the glory of God. Other people hear the Word, do not believe it and do not persevere and do not produce a harvest to the glory of God. These two different outcomes are the focus of this sermon. The Context of Hebrews 6 Now, what is the context of Hebrews 6, 7, and 8? Well, the author to Hebrews is writing I believe to a Jewish people, who had heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they had made some kind of outward profession of faith in Christ, perhaps through public, water baptism had testified to it, and they had joined a church, they've been active in a church, etcetera. But now I believe under immense pressure from their Jewish family members and friends and neighbors and political leaders and others, they are considering turning away from Jesus Christ, away from the New Covenant away from the Gospel and going back to Old Covenant Judaism. Now, the author has responded in these first five chapters by showing the superiority of Christ to the Old Covenant in every way, to Old Testament prophets, to the angels who brought the Old Covenant and gave it to Moses. To Moses himself who was the mediator of the Old Covenant, but called just a servant in God's house, while Jesus is the Son over God's house. Superior to Joshua, who brought them into the Promised Land, superior to Aaron, the first high priest. Jesus is infinitely superior to all of them. And to turn back away from Jesus Christ, to all of that is impossible, will not be blessed by God. So the author is giving consistent warnings to these Jewish professors of faith in Christ, that they must persevere in the Gospel, they must keep on with Jesus, they must not drift away, they must not turn away. And here in Hebrews 6, they must not fall away from Jesus. They must not be like their ancestors, who when brought right to the brink of the Promised Land, through unbelief in the promise of God, turned back and in their hearts, went back to Egypt. They must not be like that. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heats. They must fight the hardening effects of sin in their hearts and they must keep on running this race with endurance, and they should horizontally be caring for their brothers and sisters in Christ, that they run the race with endurance, that we wouldn't let anyone drop out of this race. And he gets to the pinnacle of that warning here in Chapter 6, when in Verses 4 through 6, he speaks the words you just heard. "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, have tasted the goodness of the Word of God, the powers of the coming age, if they fall away to be brought back again to repentance, because of their own loss, they're crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace." It's a severe warning against apostasy. And he goes right from that into these two different outcomes in concerning the rain. "Land that drinks in the rain, often falling on it and produces a crop blessed, but land that produces thorns and thistles is cursed." So we have these two different outcomes. That's the context of these two verses that we're looking on today. And as we go on in Chapter 6, from this point, the author gives us a sweet pastoral encouragement, "Even though we speak like this dear friends, we have confidence of better things, in your case, things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust. He'll not forget your work, and the love you have shown Him as you help His people, and as you continue to help them. But we want you to show the same diligence to the very end." We don't want you to become lazy, to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. So that's the context of what we're looking. Now, let's look at these two different outcomes. We have fruitful land that's blessed by God in verse 7, and we have fruitless land that's cursed by God in Verse 8. I. Fruitful Land is Blessed by God (vs. 7) So look at Verse 7, "Land that drinks in the rain, often falling on it, that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed, receives the blessing of God." So first, we have the issue of the land. The author I believe is using a verbal image, perhaps a metaphor, or a parable or something, an extended parable in the agricultural realm. Clearly he is talking about people and their relationship with God, he's not talking about farming here, but he's talking about people. And it's not just any people, but the people of God, the people that God had called out to be His own treasured possession. Consistently in Scripture, the land as a parable referred to the Jews, the nation of Israel, clearest parallel here in the Old Testament is Isaiah Chapter 5. Isaiah's beautiful parable of the vineyard that he gives us there in which the Jews are likened to a vineyard, which the Lord planted and which He richly provided for, but in the end produced only bad grapes. And He was bitterly disappointed with the harvest. The Jews then I think are directly in view here. They may be divided into two categories, fruitful and unfruitful. Fruitful are those who, by believing and obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ, have brought forth the fruits of repentance and faith and daily obedience to Him. So they were continually blessed by the ongoing a effusion of the Holy Spirit of God. They continually brought forth fruit, in keeping with repentance, day after day, bringing forth good works that glorified God, in the name of Jesus Christ. But then there are unfruitful Jews as well, of two sorts, again. Those that were completely hardened against Jesus and who immediately and vigorously rejected the Gospel outright. Obstinate unbelievers never trusted in Jesus. And those who are hypocritical apostates, who initially embraced the Gospel of Christ, made this outward profession, but who eventually rejected Jesus and fell away back into their old lives. However, though I think the home base of this kind of language of the Jews in Israel and all that, frankly, in the end, it extends to every person on the face of the earth. Under the sound of the Gospel whether Jew or Gentile, it's all the same thing. Gentiles themselves will eventually fit into one of those two categories, as they hear the gospel. They will either believe the Gospel and by perseverance, through the power of the Holy Spirit bring forth a harvest of righteousness to the glory of God, or they will reject the gospel, straight out or hypocritically run with it for a while, appear like a Christian for a while but fall away. Those are the outcomes and that's what we're dealing with in these two verses here. What does he mean when he talks about the rain? Rain often falling. Well, the heavenly blessings of God enabled the land to produce its fruit. Now, I was amazed as I read over all the facts and figures there about rain. Look I'm an engineer. It's what I love. If you don't like all those numbers, that's fine, find a poetic way to talk about how beautiful the rain is. But I just think it's astounding what God does, simply with droplets of water that fall on the soil. How much more complex the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit! How much more complicated! These are not drops of water that falling on your ears, these are complicated thoughts, they're precepts and commands and promises and warnings that are flowing in pulpits around the world even now. How beautiful is that! So what is this rain that's often falling? Well the rain is consistently presented as evidence of God's special powers over the earth. Something God does, something only God can do, evidence also of God's special love and care for the world and all its people, even the wicked as well as the righteous. Rain is that image. Job 36:27-31 says, "He [God] draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain down into the streams. The clouds poured down their moisture and abundant showers, fall on mankind. Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds? How He thunders from His pavilion? See how He scatters His lightning about Him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way He governs the nations and provides food in abundance." Job 36. Matthew 5:45, Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the righteous, and sends rain on the just in the unjust." Deuteronomy 28:12, it says there, "The Lord will open the heavens, the store house of His bounty to send rain on your land and season, and to bless all the works of your hands." Zechariah 10:1, "Ask the Lord, for rain in the spring time, it is the Lord who makes the storm clouds, He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone." Jeremiah makes it plain that only God can do this. That only God has the power to send rain, the idols cannot do this. Jeremiah 14:22, "Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the sky themselves send down showers? No, it is You O Lord, our God, therefore, our hope is in You, for You are the one Who does all this." Apart from God's direct action, therefore, on the land, it will produce nothing. The rain must fall. Now, the Greek word for rain here refers to a gentle wedding shower, perfect for growing. It does not refer to a driving rainstorm which would flatten the harvest. Now the words often falling referred to a people consistently under the ongoing blessings of God, as God nourishes the people and sustains them for fruitfulness, the ongoing blessing. So land that drinks in the rain, often falling on it. It's an ongoing ministry here. The Promised Land was singled out for mention on this one issue. It regularly drank in the rain from heaven. Deuteronomy 11:10-12, it says, "The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you planted your seeds and irrigated it by foot, as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for, continually the eyes of the Lord your God are on it from the beginning of the year to the end." Isn't that a picture of the Church? God richly blessing, just raining blessings on the people of God, pouring out the blessings continually on His people. God doesn't bless His people, with just one taste of heavenly rain, one light drizzle, and that's it. Rather God of pours out His love on His people. Even if they're not responding with the fruitfulness they should demonstrate for His many blessings. He still blesses them. God knows better than we do. How consistently the land must be watered in order to be fruitful. And He is lavishly gracious in providing for the land, what it needs to be fruitful. So also, God knows what his people need, by way of the Holy Spirit and the Word to be spiritually fruitful. And so I believe that that's exactly what the rain symbolizes here, it is the Holy Spirit and the Word, I'm not going to choose one over the other, because earlier in Hebrews 3, it's says, "as the Holy Spirit says," and then he quotes Psalm 95. So the two of them go together, the Holy Spirit's ministry of the Word, that's the rain, and so the Word is like rain. It says in Deuteronomy 32:2 "Let My teaching fall like rain and My words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." Doctrine equals rain and Deuteronomy 32:2. Teaching. Doctrine. The Word of God is like rain. Or again, more famously, perhaps, Isaiah 55:10-11 "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth, making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my Word which comes out of My mouth. It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." And so the rain is the Word. I think the gospel of Jesus Christ, specifically is like rain coming down, bringing life, Amen. But I also want to say that the Holy Spirit is like rain, the showers of blessings come through the Spirit. Isaiah 44:3-4 says this, "For I'll pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground, I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a matter like poplar trees by flowing streams." And so the rain often falling refers to the ongoing ministry of the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in this context, the Hebrew church had been richly blessed by both the Holy Spirit and the ongoing ministry of the Apostolic Word. They had been saturated with both infusions, the infusions of the word infusions of the spirit. Hebrews 2:3&4, "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. [The apostles] God also testified to it by signs, wonders, and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will." So the word of the Gospel plus the open clear ministry, the apostolic ministry of the Spirit of God, they had received it. And this land beautifully drank in the rain, drank in the rain often falling. It pictures a thirsty land, yearning for God to bless it, yearning for the heavenly rain. It represents eager, thirsty hearts that had absorbed the ministry of the Word of God in the Spirit. The spiritual rain had soaked into good soil, it penetrated their hearts and it moved them to bring forth the harvest of righteousness to God. What is the Crop? And what is the crop? Well, the Greek word is botanen from which we get botany, it's where it comes from, the idea of herbs or any green growing thing. It's a general term for the plants of the fields, seed-bearing plants and all that. Genesis 1:11-12, "Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various Kind's, and it was so. The land produced vegetation, plants bearing seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit was seed in it according to their kinds and God saw that it was good." Now, this crop in Hebrews 6:7 is said to be "useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated." So the hard-working farmer expects to eat of the harvest. He desires to feed his family with the fruits of his labor. He has no use for thorns and thistles, they're worthless to Him. He desires useful plants. And when the harvest comes, then the farmer smiles and he's deeply satisfied with his labors and he blesses the land in his heart and he says, "Surely, this is a delightful piece of land, what rich soil! Thank you, God, for letting me live here." He's looking for a harvest. And it comes. The word useful means suitable or profitable, or giving benefit to the farmer. And thus I think the meaning is these crops represent good works, that flow from the life of the Christian as a result of the Word of God, the harvest of righteousness, the fruit of lips that confess God's name, worship and praise, the harvest of actions that build the kingdom of Jesus Christ, evangelism, discipleship, prayer, spiritual gift ministry, generosity to the poor and needy. Just a harvest of fruitfulness because of the ministry of the Word in the Spirit. Hebrews 6:10, "God is not unjust. He will not forget your work, and the love you have shown Him as you help his people and as you continue to help them." So I think that's what the harvest is. And what is the blessing of God? Land that does all that drinks in the rain, produces a... It receives the blessing of God, it says. It receives the blessing of God. Well, I think we can take that in two senses: Blessing now and blessing eternally. There's a blessing now, here in this world, and there's a blessing forever more in heaven. God, well pleased now with the return on His investment, pours out even more investment on you. More resources go into your fruitful life. He will open up your hearts more and more to show you more and more of the Word of God. You'll understand more and more of the doctrine of scripture. Dark things will become light and clear to you, and your life will become more and more conformed to Christ. And God will bless you more and more with responsibilities in the church and in the world. And He will draw from your life more and more fruitfulness and more and more harvests will come. You're receiving the blessing of God right now and then blessings eternally in Heaven. The blessings of a rich welcome from God into heaven, a rich welcome. And the blessing of praise from God, rewards from God, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things, now I will to put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master." A rich blessing, that's the blessing that this kind of land that we're talking about in verse seven receives, forever from God. This dear friends, I think is the true Christian life, this and no other. This is it. Verse 7 is the true Christian life. The harvest is everything, a life of consistent blessings from God's Word and God's spirit, the noble and eager heart that takes in the gospel of Jesus Christ and brings forth a harvest 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown. Every true believer in Christ produces a harvest for God. This is the consistent teaching of scripture. II. Barren Land is Cursed by God (vs. 8) Sadly however, by contrast, we have verse 8, and that is a barren land that's cursed by God. Verse 8, "But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, it will be burned." The total focus on this is the harvest. What was the harvest? The author here doesn't even speak of the rain falling often on this land, though I think it is implied that it does. Rather the focus is on what the outcome is. The harvest is nothing useful. The thorns and thistles of course, harkens back to the curse on the ground as a result of human sin, back in Genesis 3:17-18 God curses the land because of Adam's sin. Cursed is the ground because of you, it will produce thorns and thistles for you. So the assessment of the land is that it's worthless. The land is like the harvest both the outcome, the harvest is worthless and the land is worthless. They're both worthless. Now the word worthless in Greek there means literally not approved or rejected. God has studied the heart and the works both, and He's rejected both. He's known the soil of their hearts was evil towards him and then He's also studied the outcome, the actual outcome of their lives. Their works were hypocritical and self-serving at best. That's when they look good on the outside, but at best, they were hypocritical and self-serving. If they gave to the poor and needy, or if they ministered spiritual gifts to the body of Christ, it was not out of love for God or His glory, to the glory of Christ. It wasn't out of a genuine love for the brothers and sisters in Christ, but rather for self-serving reasons, either as Judas who was the faithful keeper of the money bag, but it was a worthless good work because he was secretly helping himself to what was in it. And so, could also be that their private works are shameful. The things that no one else could see, no one but Jesus knew what Judas was doing with the money bag, they thought he was being faithful. And so either the hypocritical apparently good works or the secret shameful works behind the scenes, where no one sees what these people do in secret in their own rooms, or at night, the works prove the nature of the heart, both the works and the heart are worthless in God's sight. And then look at the danger of the land, the land says that this worthless land is close to cursing or in danger of being cursed. The curse is God's pronouncement upon them, and it carries, just like the blessing did in verse 7, both a present and a future sense. At present the curse is obvious at one level and it's bareness, utter fruitlessness. They're frustrated and fruitless in their lives, they bear nothing of value for God. Jesus, on His way to the temple, Matthew 21, was hungry in the morning and he saw a fig tree covered with green leaves, and He went up and he found no fruit on it at all. And He said to it, "May you never bear fruit again," and immediately the tree withered. That's the curse now. That's the present curse. Also now, God may increasingly withhold the blessings of rain from heaven, increasingly withhold it. In Deuteronomy 1:17 it says, "Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and He will shut the heaven so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you." So He shuts off the heaven and there's no rain. Isaiah 5:6, "I will make it a waste land neither pruned nor cultivated and briars and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it." In other words, one curse here and now, is that God withholds the blessings of the Word and the Spirit from that individual. He withholds them. Well, how does that work? Well, they are in a good church. Apparently, that's where it started. They're hearing the fruitfulness of the Word of God, but they don't like it. Their hearts become disaffected concerning it. They pull away from that kind of ministry and they find a church that will tickle their ears, and they don't hear the blessings of the word of God faithfully expounded anymore. They want something different on a Sunday, and so they go to a different kind of church in a different kind of ministry, and they don't receive the rich blessing of the Spirit and the Word anymore, or they stop going all together. And they justify it because of mean things that certain people did or some other thing that happened. I've heard those excuses, but they just don't go to church, they forsake the assembling of themselves together and they just don't go anymore. They are under a curse. They're not receiving the rich blessings of heavenly ministry anymore. But then there is a curse in the future as well, and that's a dreadful one, dear friends. In the end, it will be burned He says. Jesus speaks these words, "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." That's Judgment Day and a curse from God, of hell, of eternity and burning separated from God. Again and again, the language of burning is a picture of hell. In Revelation 20 it's pictured as a lake of fire, Judgment Day. And so the consistent biblical lesson is this, you don't have to just find it in one place you can find it in probably 20, clear teachings on this. Again and again, genuine faith, saving faith, produces a harvest to the glory of God. And if there is no fruit there is no faith, if there's no faith, there's no life, you're dead in your transgressions and sins. Without the fruit you're not a Christian. By our fruit, our harvest God identifies us. John the Baptist said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our Father.' I tell you out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire." Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?" Do you hear the same two things, thorns and thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree cannot bear bad fruit or bear's bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Thus by their fruit, you will recognize them. This is a consistent teaching in the Bible. It's not just in one place. Jesus said in Matthew 12:33, "Make the tree good and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad and it's fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." Many parables have as their ultimate outcome a harvest for God, like the parable of the seed in the soils. The good soil produces the crop. The parable of the vineyard, the tenants are judged because they don't bring forth the harvest at harvest time, and so He says, "I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit," it's harvest. There's the parable of barren fig tree. Jesus said a "man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but he didn't find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now, I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and I haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it waste, use up the soil?' 'Sir,' the man replied, 'Leave it alone for one more year. I'll dig around it. I'll fertilize it. And if it bears fruit next year then fine, but if not, then you can cut it down.'" Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, it's when the wheat and the weeds sprout up and they show their heads, that you can tell that one is the seeds of the devil, and the other, the seeds of righteousness. The harvest is everything. Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he'll bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, then ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. This is to My Father's glory that you bring forth much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples." By the way, I can't think of a passage more relevant to the one that I'm preaching on today. John 15, it says, "He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit." In other words, the hangers on, the ones that are in church, but there's no fruit, you see, what I'm saying, cuts them off, thrown in the ground, they wither that's the present cursing, and in the end they're collected and burned that's the final cursing. Same thing, same teaching that Jesus gives. Genuine life in Jesus produces fruit. Consistent teaching. III. Applications So what application can we take from this? First and foremost, come to Christ, come to Jesus. Believe in Him. God sent His son, who lived a sinless life, who did all these incredible miracles, but came primarily to die on the cross. Why? Because we are fruitless apart from Him. We are thorns and thistles apart from Jesus. We just bring forth fruit for death, the Scripture says. But the Gospel is here today, and all you have to do is believe in Jesus, if you simply trust in Jesus everything will change. He will take out your heart of stone, He will give you the heart of flesh. The Word of God will start enriching your life. You'll start to see fruitful harvest. You'll start to see good things happening in your life. You'll start to love righteousness and hate wickedness. Everything will change, you'll be a new creation. Oh, I plead with you come to Christ while there's time. Trust in Him. And by continually abiding in Jesus you will bring forth the harvest that the Lord wants from you. Every sermon you hear will soak into your thirsty heart, and it will produce fruit. Every seed of truth will be well-watered and fertilized and it will produce good fruit for the Glory of God, and you will have a sweet and rich sense of the blessing of God on your life. Come to Christ. If you've already come to Christ, I urge you, first and foremost assess your harvest. Just look and see, is there a harvest of fruitfulness in your life? Is there a rich harvest of the Word of God in your life, do you see the fruit that God says He is looking for from you? Do you see the heart fruit, a hunger for the Word of God, an eager receptiveness as the Word is being proclaimed, as the Word is displayed in your life, an eagerness to hear good preaching and teaching, a hunger displayed in your daily quiet time? You just can't wait to read the Word, you're hungry for it. A growing faith in God, a stronger and stronger sense of the invisible realities around you that God is alive, He's on His throne, that He is there to bless you, He is powerful and good. And a sense of active reliance on Jesus, venture on Him, venture holy, let no other trust intrude, a growing sense of confidence as you venture forth in Jesus, a deep love for God for Jesus, an affection for Him and attraction for Him. Do you want to see Jesus? Do you yearn to see Him in the face, to see Him on His throne, Do you yearn to sit at table with Him, are you hungering and thirsting for that? And do you have a deep love for the people of God as well? You yearn to be there with them too. I just closed my eyes during our singing time, just confirmed again, I sing best corporately friends, I just do. When you guys come around me and sing, that's when I sound really good, especially the high notes you ladies. Thank you so much. I can't hit those, but we sing best corporately. Are you yearning to get there with that multitude greater than anyone could count, from every tribe, and language, people and nation, are you horizontally loving the people of God, yearning that they be successful too, fruitful? Do you have a mind set on God? Are you thinking about the things of God? Are your emotions wrapped up in the Kingdom of God? You're rejoicing at news of conversions. You're grieving over the sorrow and brokenness of this world, and especially over other people's sins or apostates, or things you see in their lives. Are your emotions. And then do you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Let's just say that, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, do you see that heart fruit inside you? That's inside. What about your lifestyle, what about your habits and patterns, what are you doing with your body? Assess yourself. Do you see a consistent pattern of obedience to the commands of God by the power of the Holy Spirit? You read things in scripture, do you do what it says? He wants you to be faithful in prayer, do you pray? He wants you to be generous with your tithes and offerings, are you giving money? He wants you to share the gospel. Are you opening your mouth and witnessing? He wants you to use your spiritual gifts. Do you have a spiritual gift ministry? He wants you to put sin to death by the power of the Spirit. Are you fighting pride and anger and lust, and laziness, and other grievous heart sins by the power of the Spirit? Are you putting them to death? He wants you to guard your mouth and not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful of building others up according to their needs. Are you careful about your words? Are you grieved when you hurt somebody with your speech? Do you yearn to live your life openly for God by the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you seeing patterns of that? If so, rejoice, give glory to God, you have a good harvest in your life. The fruit is there. It's not perfect. I know that. None of the things I've listed do we do perfectly, but if there's fruit give glory to God. God has saved you from a fruitless, barren existence. He's working fruit in your life, praise God for it. And if you don't see that fruit like you'd like to, oh I yearn that you would repent while there's time. Come again to the cross, Say, "Maybe I've been deceived, but I want to see the fruit in my life. Please work it in me, Jesus, while there's still time." Close with me in prayer.