Are you an Angel?

Good day all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!

Angles!  Have you ever thought about angels?  Really thought about angels????  There are cherubim, seraphim, warring angels, ministering angels, and earth angels.   I would venture to say we are probably earth angels.  Huh?  Why do you say this?

   Earth angels walk the earth and are of flesh and blood, the earthbound division of angels. 

In Haggai 1: ¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.

  In Hebrew the LORD’s messenger is malakh, which in Greek is angelos and stands for angel.  Haggai is called as angel of God, as is John the Baptist

  And what is an angel?  An angel is a being sent by God, a messenger, someone on a divine assignment, who is taking God’s message to those who dwell on earth.

  Then who are the angels?  Where are they?  The angels are ones who are born again, born from above, ones who have accepted Christ and are taking the message of God to all who dwell on earth.  Where are they?  They are all around and they will meet the divine appointment set forth by God.

   It is you and I, who are to deliver the message to all.  In Greek it is called the euangel, in English the word is evangel like evangelism.  Notice within this word is the word “angel”.  Hmmm? Coincidence?

   It is no accident so when you take the message from God and deliver it here on earth you are being angelic, plus, in the process you may be an angel to someone.  We may spread the seeds as we spoke yesterday, or we may be the angel someone needs today through a kind word, kind act or deed.  Maybe purchase an item for someone just because you felt God was pushing you that way.  You have been blessed and are sharing the blessing.

Mark 16: 15And he (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

So, go forth my dear angel friend and see what God has in store for you today. Love you all.

In Christ’s Love and Grace

Johnny

Miracles are alive and well! Look for a miracle today!

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!

Do you believe in miracles?  Miracles happen every day but so often we are so derailed and detached from the Word of God and the Spirit that we don’t even see them.  Let’s think about a garden. You go down and purchase the seeds from the store.  All these seeds are sitting, waiting in a package to be unleashed and their miracle released.

   As long as these seeds sit in the package what do they do?  They lie dormant and produce nothing.  How often is our Christian life as the seeds in a package – lying dormant and producing nothing.  Well, what are we supposed to do?  Take the WORD, GOD gave us the seeds, called the WORD OF GOD and we need to immerse ourselves with the seeds (word) so they can be spread.

   When the seeds come out of the package you plant them in your garden that has been prepared.  You don’t just cast them out  and say “Good Luck”!  The ground is fertile and ready to bear seeds.  The ground where you walk with the WORD in you is fertile ground.  Now, yes, NOW is the time to plant the seeds.  But what if the people don’t listen.  Oh, but they will, they really will when you walk in the Spirit of God.  If you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you, then you will find the rich soil to which the seed must be planted.  It matters not their dress or demeanor; what matters is your heart and being in tune with God.

   But the people I encounter don’t want to hear the word. AND, I see people I really don’t want to be around or talk to.  Wait!  If you are walking in the Spirit, you just have to be obedient; the Spirit will make them open, make them fertile.  You don’t have to preach a sermon, or even read scripture, you only have to listen to the spirit and do what the spirit moves you to do.  It may be as simple as helping someone which blesses them – the door will open.  It may be knowing you need to pray for a person and pray for them – the door will open.  It may be reciting scripture – oh, but I really don’t have any ‘good’ verses memorized – but when the time comes the Spirit  will give you the words.

    It is a miracle, believe in miracles.  A seed is a seed; you are you!  When the seed is planted in rich soil – when you are in the Word – Matthew 13:3-23 (Parable of the sower) you will bring forth 100 times, 60 times, and 30 times what was planted.  Now that is a miracle.  Soooooo, go today, my friend, and plant a seed so it may sprout and bring forth much fruit.  Tis not for you to count, but to do.  Let today be the first day of the Miracles You will Unleash. 

1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."

Love you all.

In Christ’s Love and Grace

Johnny

Road to destination

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!  Well, are you willing to accept my challenge of 15 minutes daily with a Bible, not a mobile device? Let me know.

  Have you ever stopped and thought back about the journey you have been on in life?  If you could name the roads what would you name them?  Maybe in our youth we travel the road of ignorance, then, as we continue on the road of arrogance.  Then we start a job and travel the rocky road, and as we understand more and learn the smooth road.  Later we hit many difference roads – sandy road, winding road, steep road, bumpy road and on and on.

   What is wrong with naming these as our roads through life?  Nothing, however, our eyes may have shifted from the destination to each journey.  Huh?  What does this mean?  Well, our destination should be to follow Jesus Christ, do the father’s bidding, with our final destination being in the heavenly realm with God our Father.  All this while we must remember as Christians we are not promised a 4 land smooth paved road.

  In ancient days (and some in America) they had the road to Athens; Emmaus Road, the road to Damascus.  All  the roads had a name leading to their destination.  When people see us, do they see us on the road to our destination?  To be God-like; to show Jesus’ love to one another?  

  In our road of life we will find all the above mentioned roads which is not to say we are not under the Father’s care, but we do need to remember our final destination.  It is important for us to remember, once we choose to follow God we become prey to satan and we must remember to pray.  A very pleasant and easy road may lead to a cliff; whereas a road of rough terrain may lead to the Holy City.  

Today friend, take your eyes off your circumstances, and focus on your destination.

Matthew 7: 15 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (NIV version)

            Phillipians 3: 12 “I am not saying that I have already got all those things. I have not yet become completely as God wants me to be.  I am not saying that I have become like that already. But Christ Jesus has made me his own. And it is my whole purpose to become completely what he wants me to be. I am like someone who is running strongly to read a certain point.  13 My friends, I do not think that I have reached that point yet. But this one thing is what I do. I forget past things, which are behind me. And I try very much to reach the things that are in front of me.  14 I run straight towards that point, so that I can win God’s gift. God has chosen that I should live in heaven. Then I will be united to Christ Jesus. This is his gift to me. (Easy English version)

Thank you for reading. Today, wherever you go, go to meet what or who God wants you to encounter. Pray for them, share your blessings, then move on.  Love you all.

In Christ’s Love and Grace  

Johnny

Mobile device or BIBLE? Where are you hooked?

Good morning everyone. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

   Okay, I will be stepping on some of your toes today and all I can truly say is: "GET OVER IT"!  Because if I do, then this is speaking to you.

   My BIBLE!  Where is your Bible?  Off in the corner, gathering dust or sitting close to you that you pick up and use daily?  I have looked at several "researcher" results and this is amazing and sad all at the same time.

  Now these are averages, averages meaning some use very little or not at all to some who use social media constantly.  The average person is on youtube 40 minutes a day, facebook 35 minutes a day, and snapchat 25 minutes a day.

  Oh, yeah, you may not be one of these people, but check yourself out - really! Teens tend to spend up to 9 hours a day on social platforms - 30% on social media, and 60% of their time is on mobile devices. Listen to this - people average116 minutes on social media everyday, which translates to a total of 5 years and 4 months spent over a lifetime.

  Many times we claim to be "multi-tasking" - which really is a deception.  When we do more than 1 thing (multi-task) at a time, one will gain the majority of the attention and the other(s) with get partial attention. Argue all you want, but it is true!

   Now, let me ask you. Will you spend just 1/4 of the 116 minutes a day in your Bible?  This is 29 minutes for your Bible - no prayer time included. Do You? What if you put your phone down, put the timer on for just 15 minutes and read your Bible?  What would happen?

    Your phone looks worn and used, broken or cracked screens and all whereas your Bible looks new (which indicates lack of use). What is wrong with this picture?  Oh, yeah, that phone is great - yes it'll get you to heaven. Not! Needing our phone ALL THE TIME is deception of the devil.  My challenge for you, and let me know if you do - spend 15 minutes each day just reading your Bible.  If you accept my challenge let me know and maybe all who do can meet once a month and share how it made a difference in your life (challenge starts today 24th and we'll meet Feb. 24th to share).

  As humans we tend to seek personal satisfaction so we turn to social media or internet surfing. Look at the scripture:

Proverbs 1:

³² Sin and self-satisfaction
bring destruction and death
    to stupid fools.
³³ But if you listen to me,
you will be safe and secure
    without fear of disaster.”

Accept the challenge with me and let's do less phone and more scripture. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Jesus is our light, darkness flees!

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!

   You have probably heard people say I am not afraid of the dark, just what is in the darkness.  This stands to reason as we cannot see in the dark as we are not nocturnal.  If you are standing in a long hall way, no windows, just walls and a door at the other end it will be difficult to see at best. But, when the door cracks, just a little, our vision increases.  When the doors at the end of the hallway are fully open we have the vision to see all.

    This is Jesus, He is our light.  Just as we have lighthouses for ships at sea. Why?  To help them see danger is ahead; without the lighthouse many ships would be destroyed, would perish.  

John 8: ¹² Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

                                    Psalm 119:105 You word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

  Here is a youtube of a lighthouse and Jesus.

   Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. If we will just look for the light that will brighten our world we may have troubles, but in obedience, we will not be shipwrecked.  Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

Why the blood for passover, why the blood of Jesus?

Hello friends of Jesus Christ.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

In ancient times the holiest day of the year was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, a special ceremony that took place.  What would happen?

   The high priest would stand before the people with 2 identical goats, one in each hand.  Then he would reach into a pitcher or urn and pull out 2 lots, 1 for each goat. Why?

    1 was to be sacrificed and 1 was to be set free.  Before the sacrifice there had to be a presentation of 2 identical goats before the people.  This would determine the destiny of each goat.

   Now remember Moses and the passover, when they spread blood over the door posts so the death angel would passover any who had this mark.

   How does this relate to Jesus? (I hope I explain this and don't mess it up). Now, when Jesus, the Messiah was brought before Pilot what happened.  Remember the sacrifices have to be identical.  So when it came time and Pilot said he could set someone free who did the people call for?  Barabbas - a murderer.  Okay - you say how are they identical?

   Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of the Father.  Barabbas comes from 2 Hebrew words - bar - which means son and abba - which means father.  Barabbas means the Son of the Father ---- 2 lives ---- each one bears the name  the Son of the Father.  So, there is the sacrifice of one and one set free.

    So, Jesus, God, died in our place as he was like us, flesh and blood, in the likeness of sin, then we would be identical.  Also, as the passover, the blood on the  wood ordoor jams; Christ's blood was also spread on wood, the cross where he was crucified.

Leviticus 16: ⁷ Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. ⁹ Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

  And now read what Pilot did in Matthew 27:15-24.

It is all very interesting and there is more to the Bible than just casual reading. Oh, in Leviticus brings up another topic --  scapegoat !!  Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny

p.s. several sources tell about the name Barabbas, but you can check it out here.

I wonder........Hmmmm.........I wonder.......

Good morning all. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!

  I wonder.........Do you ever stop and wonder what God was thinking when he ---------?  Why did he make me?  Why did he make you?  Why is that person quiet and the other loud?  Why is that person famous and the other not?  Why are you where you are in life today instead of where you visioned yourself?

   Hmmmm -- I wonder............

I wonder about that person sitting in the front row!  I wonder about that person sitting by the door!  I wonder about that person on their phone!  I wonder about the pastor and staff! I wonder about ME!

  But my biggest wonder is what can I do for: the person in the front row; the one sitting by the door; person on their phone; the pastor and staff; you and me?

  Maybe, probably, most likely, I need to be in tune with the Spirit and instead of looking around, I need to focus.  Focus on God and how HE wants me to pray for each of these people.

   Instead of greeting people with, 'how are you today?' I should greet them with "HOW CAN I PRAY FOR YOU TODAY"?  My focus should not be on me and my thoughts, but what God wants me to do now, today, this week, month and year.

  I wonder what God was thinking when he created YOU and ME?

         Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. – Psalm 72:18-19

    Matthew 15: 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

  I wonder if I need to put:   my phone down, my needs behind me, my wants behind me, your spiritual needs forward, my spiritual needs forward, and on and on.  Today is the day to focus - not on the people around us but on God and His mission for us today.   I wonder.........     Love you all

In Christ's Love and Grace

Johnny