I stumbled across a blog a short time ago that posted a great video trailer about a man who travels around helping others lose weight. It is thought-provoking and if you take the time to watch the 2 minute 42 second video, you may realize that you are not ever forced to remain the way you are. If you want something changed, you can change the thing that bothers you or you can change the way you feel about that thing. Anyway, here is a reposting of that video;

Watch it and enjoy. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea that you are responsible for your choices and how you respond to the people and world around you.

Blessings!

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; — to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

As I read the stories of our law makers and listen to the all of the “reputable” news sources, I am reminded of a story I heard long ago…

Once upon a time an evil witch visits a kingdom and poisons the central well with a potion that drives people mad. The next morning all who drink from that well go crazy. The king, however, learns about this in advance, and chooses to drink from the Kings Well rather than the communal well. The next day, those who drank the poisoned water came to the king and accused him of being the crazy one. The king, aware of what had transpired, was faced with a dilemma: drink from the well and lose his sanity like the rest of his subjects, but remain king; or don’t drink, remain sane, but be swept from power by those who would view his very sanity as madness.

Are you willing to drink from the poisoned well so you can fit in or will you hold fast to your convections and faith?

Please share your thoughts and feel free to pass this story along to others.

For all of your promises Papa are Yes, and in Christ Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:20) Jesus, has established us in Himself and has anointed us, sealed us and given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22) Through these promises, we can always thank you for your limitless and unrelenting love for our souls. For you are the very essence of love itself. We desire that Your love would flow forth and Your glory would cover the Earth. We can’t make it happen in our own strength but  You promise that we can do all things through Christ, because You give us strength. (Philippians 4:13) And we remind you that You said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

Many people whom You delivered were being harassed by the demonic. They were not evil people, neither “did they practice witchcraft or idolatry”, they just walked in ignorance that they knew the better things of this world. We know they bought into the lies from the father of lies, his minions and their constant assault of lies and accusations against us.  We know that Jesus brought each of us a victory against all that Satan has done against us. Many ask and want healing but many cannot receive what You have for them.

Open the portals of Heaven Papa, so that your glory can pour down into this place. Make this place a place of healing and deliverance. You have given us the command and given us Your authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with all kinds of skin diseases and cast out demons. (Matthew 10:7,8) Papa, send your glory to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and restore sight to the blind. Papa we ask that You enable freedom to all those who are oppressed by Satan. (Luke 4:18-19)

Help us to not just hear your voice but to listen intently to your voice and know Your heart for Healing and your plans, purpose and intent that we can be more like Your Son. Jesus Himself said He can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19) We desire to only do what You are doing and to only say what You are saying so that Your perfect will, will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. (Luke 11:2)

In Jesus’ name, Amen

Father, it is your desire that there be no sin, nor sickness, nor disease on the Earth. Yet we all have sinned and we all fall short of the honor and glory which You bestow and receive. (Romans 8:23) Except we have been made righteous by the generous gift of grace from Christ Jesus that he has given us through the sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation His blood. (Romans 8:24,25) It was this demonstration of righteousness that justified and enabled all of us to receive this gift.

Father, when Jesus stood before the men in the synagogue, He read aloud from the scroll of Isaiah saying; “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me, To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19) In this He announced that the Kingdom of God is here now and of how healing and deliverance belong together. Father, Jesus gave us the command to go out into the world and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with all kinds of skin diseases and, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:7,8)

Papa, this is as true in our age, as when Christ walked the earth. And In that same way that healing and deliverance are paired together, Your words given to us from the Holy Spirit are bound together so tightly that they cannot be separated from Your will for us. You have equipped us to bringing Your heart to Earth for each of Your beloved children. But the world is blinded as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:4 where he wrote “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Father, how then, can we hope to stand against the wiles of the enemy without knowledge people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) and hope (Proverbs 13:12)? It is in our faith, that complete trust, that You are with us and we are hearing Your voice and know our charge to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and to cleanse those with skin diseases.

Read part 3

Thank you Father for all you do in our lives and how you even send your angels to catch us when we stumble so that we do not even hit our foot against a stone. Thank you for Your promise that we will walk on lions and cobras and step on strong lions and snakes. (Psalm 91:11-13) Thank you for Your desire to bless us with the goodness of Your heart. We thank you that as we delight ourselves in You, You will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Father, it was your intent from the very beginning that we would walk in dominion of the Earth. Your perfect plan was set into motion at the utterance of your first words – “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) You called all of creation, our very existence from the nothing with only the power of your will. You have made us a little lower than yourself and You have crowned us with glory and honor. You have made us to have dominion over the works of Your hands and You put all things under our feet. LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:5,6,9)

Read part 2

In the Kenneth S. Wuest translation of the New Testament, we can see that we are told to build our faith through prayer. “But, as for you, divinely loved ones, building yourselves up constantly in the sphere of and by means of your most holy Faith, and as constantly praying in the sphere of and by means of the Holy Spirit, with watchful care keep yourselves within the sphere of God’s love, expectantly looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ resulting in life eternal.” (Jude 20,21)

Everybody, should make prayer part of their daily life. How should you fit this into what you feel is a life which is already to busy for anything else? Some time ago I read a short article by David Bryant where he suggests seven key areas which we should incorporate into our “Daily Devotional” time with the Lord. Below is a summary of Bryant’s suggested areas and a period of time in which you should commit yourself to the Lord each day. It is important to remember that you can spend as much time as you need to in each of these areas but it is not necessary to spend hours at a time each day in prayer. You can go through this process in 15 minutes or take an hour, but always remember that the Lord wants a real relationship with you and wants you to make time for Him in your life. After all, He created the Heavens and the Earth and He is the one who breathed life into you.

Rejoice – and praise Faithfor what He has done in your life and in the lives of others, in what He is doing, and what He is going to do to revive His Kingdom.

Review – read the scriptures He wrote to learn all you can about the nature of who the Lord is, and who He created you to be.

Repent – confess to the Lord on your behalf, and on behalf of the whole church, the specific ways in which we are preventing the Lord from having a deep intimate relationship with us.

Resist – Focus in prayer on those areas where Satan is attempting to undermine the mission of the church, so as to diminish the potential for local and world revival.

Request – From the immense reservoir of Biblical promises, intercede for full revival in the church – both your own and in other nations.

Recommit – reflect on all that you have learned from the Lord and all that you have said to Him, and commit yourself back to Him to be used in answer to your prayers, whatever the cost. Also, recommit to set the pace for others to pray with you in the same direction.

Record – keep a journal and record whatever you sense God has said to you during your prayer time. As you keep this journal, it will be a reference point which will allow you to see how the Lord is working in your life and how He responds to your prayers. You can use it as a guide to help you understand how He is calling you to walk in obedience and how He has given you encouragement for yourself and others.

Here are four statements you may hear people say about their sickness. Actually, these are lies from the father of lies;

1. God made me sick to teach me a lesson:
   Did Jesus ever put sickness on anyone? Jesus shows us what God is like, how God works and what God’s will is for us.
2. I must be sick for God’s glory:
   How is God glorified if you are sick? How can God use you if you are sick or dieing in bed?
3. I just don’t have enough faith to be healed:
   Is it a lack of faith or a lack of knowledge? In Hosea 4:6-7 it says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
   ‘The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame”
4. God will heal me if it is His will:
   If it was not God’s will to heal everyone, then why did God send His son Jesus to us?

Ask yourself about God’s desire that we all be healed. Just a few of the scriptures that testify to His desire to heal are; Matthew 4:24, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 12:15, Matthew 14:36, Mark 1:32, Mark 3:10, Mark 6:56, Luke 4:40, Luke 5:15, Luke 6:17, Luke 6:19, and Acts 5:16. There are many scriptures describing how and why the Lord wants each and every one of His children to healed and whole. You, your family and friends would be blessed by searching out the many of the scriptures not listed here yourself.

Now, we have an awesome testimony from Rolland Baker when he was at Bill Johnson’s Bethal Church a short time ago. It is best for Rolland to share his testimony himself, so please watch the YouTube video below.

Maybe, just maybe, I need to hear the Father profess His love over me again and again. Hearing the love of your life tell you how much you are loved has the effect of stilling any concerns we may have that we are not loved. We know from John’s letter that “there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” (1 John 4:18)

The video below is the “Father’s Love Letter” – Enjoy hearing and knowing the depth of the Fathers love for you.

(This original version of the Father’s Love Letter narration was first created in 2001. With special thanks to narrator Roy Lamont and Robert Critchley for producing the music.)

Pondering about trusting our “faith” that God is exactly who He says He is drew me to a few verses and it is exciting to know that my Daddy’s delight grows as I come to fully know and trust Him. Our complete faith in the Lord is important to Him and “He delights in those who understand and know Him, knowing that He is the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.” (Jer 9:24) and who can know Him and His ways without trusting or having faith that He is your Lord? It is also important to realize this passage speaks of  “Yada” (see Strong’s H3045) or of knowing God in a deep intimate way, such as a man would have a deeply intimate understanding of his wife, it is not speaking of just hearing that God exists.

So, why do we need to have faith that God is real? We know that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]…” (He 11:6) When Paul spoke of faith, he said, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith [or trust]; But if anyone draws Back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (He 10:35-38) He continued in this line of thought in the next chapter where he states; “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith [or trust] we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (He 11:1-3)

Do you think we need to have faith?