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Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 24, 2011 at 6:49am

Don’t Let Fear Defeat You

Inspiration   >  Bible   >  Don’t Let Fear Defeat You

 

Don’t Let Fear Defeat You

 

Fear, like every emotion, can be used either negatively or positively. Healthy fear keeps you from being careless when you face danger. Unhealthy fear occurs when you allow your apprehensions and concerns to unduly take over your life—threatening your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

 

What can you do about fear?

1.     Face your fears squarely. What three things do you fear most? Write them down and think about them. Fear often vanishes when you take a hard look at it. Then destroy the paper and banish those fears from your mind. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

2.     Substitute faith for fear. Saturate your mind with the great Scripture verses that assure you of the love and care of your heavenly Father—verses like Deuteronomy 31:8: “The LORD…will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

3.     Learn to relax and trust God to guide you in all your decisions. “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

4.     Give God your fears. “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 22, 2011 at 5:16pm

W. Tisdale -editor Bellgamin -anonym

Don't Quit. Keep Playing! Manna
And the Lord said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 2 Corinthians 12.9; Philippians 4.13
1- Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took the small boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE." When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." At that moment, the great piano master, Paderewski, made his entrance. Paderewski quickly moved to the piano and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized. That's the way it is with God! Next Column -->		2- When you undertake a Christian ministry, what you can accomplish on your own may not seem very noteworthy. You try your best to serve God, but the results aren't always the graceful flowing "music" that you had hoped to achieve. BUT -- with the helping hands of the Master, your efforts can be instantly transformed into something quite beautiful! So the next time you set out to accomplish great feats -- if everything seems to be going wrong -- listen carefully. When you listen, you will hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Feel God's loving arms around you. Know that God's strong hands are playing in harmony with your hands -- filling in the gaps of your amateurish hesitations, turning your feeble efforts into a beautiful symphony -- the concerto of your life. Remember, God doesn't call the equipped. God equips the called! Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the REACH of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the NEED for God's grace. Amen

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 22, 2011 at 12:40pm

January 22: Morning "Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?" - Ezekiel 15:2 These words are for the humbling of God's people; they are called God's vine, but what are they by nature more than others? They, by God's goodness, have become fruitful, having been planted in a good soil; the Lord hath trained them upon the walls of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to his glory; but what are they without their God? What are they without the continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? O believer, learn to reject pride, seeing that thou hast no ground for it. Whatever thou art, thou hast nothing to make thee proud. The more thou hast, the more thou art in debt to God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a debtor. Consider thine origin; look back to what thou wast. Consider what thou wouldst have been but for divine grace. Look upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not thy conscience reproach thee? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand before thee, and tell thee that thou art unworthy to be called his son? And if he hath made thee anything, art thou not taught thereby that it is grace which hath made thee to differ? Great believer, thou wouldst have been a great sinner if God had not made thee to differ. O thou who art valiant for truth, thou wouldst have been as valiant for error if grace had not laid hold upon thee. Therefore, be not proud, though thou hast a large estate--a wide domain of grace, thou hadst not once a single thing to call thine own except thy sin and misery. Oh! strange infatuation, that thou, who hast borrowed everything, shouldst think of exalting thyself; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of thy Saviour, one who hath a life which dies without fresh streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud! Fie on thee, O silly heart! Evening "Doth Job fear God for nought?" - Job 1:9 This was the wicked question of Satan concerning that upright man of old, but there are many in the present day concerning whom it might be asked with justice, for they love God after a fashion because he prospers them; but if things went ill with them, they would give up all their boasted faith in God. If they can clearly see that since the time of their supposed conversion the world has gone prosperously with them, then they will love God in their poor carnal way; but if they endure adversity, they rebel against the Lord. Their love is the love of the table, not of the host; a love to the cupboard, not to the master of the house. As for the true Christian, he expects to have his reward in the next life, and to endure hardness in this. The promise of the old covenant was prosperity, but the promise of the new covenant is adversity. Remember Christ's words--"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit"--What? "He purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit." If you bring forth fruit, you will have to endure affliction. "Alas!" you say, "that is a terrible prospect." But this affliction works out such precious results, that the Christian who is the subject of it must learn to rejoice in tribulations, because as his tribulations abound, so his consolations abound by Christ Jesus. Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger to the rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear not, but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in them you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in the infinite reward of the future

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 18, 2011 at 9:05am

	The Only Thing That Counts TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6B, NIV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria So often, it’s easy to get caught up in our to-do lists of life. You might even have a spiritual checklist in your mind of all the things you think you need to do in order to please God. And we should have the desire to please Him and follow His commands, but pleasing Him starts with our heart condition. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians that only faith, hope and love will last into eternity. We can’t have faith unless we first have hope, and our faith won’t work without love. The point is that we have to remember to adjust our focus and make sure that we aren’t just going through the motions in our spiritual walk. We can do a lot of “good” things, too. But if we don’t have love, they won’t matter in eternity. We can have a lot of knowledge, but if we don’t have love, it won’t do us any good. However, when love is the foundation for everything we do, it honors God and opens the door for the life of victory in blessing He has prepared for you! A PRAYER FOR TODAY Father God, thank You for Your blessing and peace upon my life. Today, I choose love, knowing that it fuels my faith. I don’t want to go through the motions; I want to love the way You love me. Show me ways to grow in love as I keep my heart and mind fixed on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 10, 2011 at 3:41am

Choose me! Choose me!

Inspiration   >  Bible   >  Choose me! Choose me!

Choose me! Choose me!

Looking for some good news? Here it is: You have been chosen…by God. The book of Ephesians says so: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (1:3-4).

Think of it! Before he designed the universe, our heavenly Father selected you as a special object of his eternal affection. The world did not come about by chance. Things don’t just happen to you. They are under the wise control of the One who has always loved you and always will.

God always chooses for a special purpose. Jesus said, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” (John 15:16). What fruit are you to bear? The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). God wants to fill your life with his spirit of love and joy and peace and pure goodness.

Say these words aloud: God has chosen me to bear fruit. See how many opportunities you can find today to be loving and gentle, kind and joyful and self-controlled. Then, tomorrow, chose to do it again!

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 5, 2011 at 11:14pm

O HOW I LOVE YOU O HEAVENLY FATHER

Begin with the Lord's Prayer

Inspiration   >  Books We Love   >  Begin with the Lord's Prayer

 

Begin with the Lord's Prayer
by Marci Alborghetti

 

The Lord's Prayer is the only formal prayer that Jesus offered us, the prayer He gave to His disciples when they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:2–4). Every time you feel you can’t pray, you can start here, with the one prayer given us by our Lord. And since it is literally the Lord’s prayer, a personal gift from Jesus to each of us, we should offer it back to the Lord as a personal gift, embracing the meaning of each line as it reaches out to gather us into Christ’s waiting arms.

Our Father: Lord, help me to remember that You are my Father, a caring Parent Who will love and protect me much more than any human parent.

Who art in heaven: Heaven is Your home, Lord, and I thank You for letting me see glimmers of heaven every day here on Earth, in sunrise and sunset, in thunder and lightning and rain-bearing clouds, in the oceans with their rippling waves and tides and the rivers flowing into them, in roses and irises and snowflakes.  

Hallowed be Thy name: Father, let me honor Your name in my every word, action, thought.

Thy kingdom come: Let me remember, dear God, that this world is only temporary, that Your glorious kingdom will indeed come. I long to be swept up into it.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven: Father, in this world, we are often so far from doing Your will as Jesus revealed it.Help me to live my life according to Your will and help make Earth more like heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread: God of abundance, thank You for providing so generously all that I need. Remind me to share what You provide for me so that all may have their daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses: Without Your continuous forgiveness, Lord, where would I be?

As we forgive those who trespass against us: I should be more forgiving, Lord; show me how.

And lead us not into temptation: Father, I often feel that I’m being tried. Help me to remember that my small trials are nothing compared to those of Your Son,my Brother, and give me the strength and faith to persevere.

But deliver us from evil: Dear God, intervene for me because I am weak, and without Your deliverance I am like a lost and wandering child. Draw me safely into Your protective embrace, Lord.

Amen: You, Father, are the final amen, the way, the truth, the life.

 

This article is an excerpt from Prayer Power: How to Pray When You Think You Can't. 

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on January 2, 2011 at 12:36pm

MY THOUGHTS FOR 2011 TO ALL, MAY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER ANSWER ALL OF YOURS ACCORDING TO HIS HOLY WILL

Comment by Pastor Bob B on December 29, 2010 at 7:06pm

r12 True Spirituality

Being a genuine disciple of Christ flows out of a relationship with Him. It's about experiencing God's grace, not earning His love through performance. A real relationship with Jesus Christ will produce a follower whose life looks progressively more like His life. Romans 12 provides a relational profile of an authentic disciple: someone who is surrendered to God, separate from the world's values, sober in self-assessment, serving in love and supernaturally responds to evil with good. Christians who live out this kind of lifestyle are what we call r12 Christians. God is willing to go deeper and grow you into a real disciple... are you ready?

 

 r12online.livingontheedge.org/

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on December 25, 2010 at 11:39am

without birth there can be no death without death there would be no
cross or blood without the cross or blood we would not be in the family
of God THANK YOU O HEAVENLY FATHER FOR YOUR LOVE IN THAT YOU GAVE US
YOUR BELOVED SON AND THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOE OUR LIFE IN THAT NOW WE
HAVE LIFE EVER LASTING IN YOU I'M SO GRATEFUL

Comment by ALCEDES JONES on December 24, 2010 at 6:23am

Day 27:


Doing the Best You Can

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him
in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. 
Luke 2:7

Mary no
doubt had planned for her
baby to be born among
family, in a room warm and
welcoming. Joseph, too,
thought he would be able to
provide well for this holy
child. Instead, they found
themselves in a far-away
city with no shelter or
friends. What to do? The
best they could with what
they had: a stable, a
manger, a length of
swaddling cloth. It was
enough. When we do what we
can and leave the rest to
God, it is always
enough.MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MAY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER GRANT US ALL A MOST BLESSED NEW YEAR

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