Salvation_Jesus

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself."

So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies.Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

"The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'

" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen-- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles."

At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted."Your great learning is driving you insane."

"I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do."

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"

Paul replied, "Short time or long--I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." Acts 26:1-29 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine "

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

" 'In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:

" 'I saw the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will live in hope,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

" 'The Lord said to my Lord:

"Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet." '

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:1- 41 NIV

I guess I don't understand people today, the world is changing and the people are getting colder and colder, Satan has really blinded all of the whole words minds, nothing is the truth anymore, it seems that everything is a lie, everything in the media is up in the air, and nothing that is printed you can't bank on, people are getting taken to the bank everyday, and the middle class will someday be no more. How do we deal with all of this destruction, all the killing in the streets, the drugs, the evil worshipers that hate, and it only gets worst, and the true Christians that try to stand up for God and try to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, they get condemned, and no one listens, and no one cares, it is the mighty dollar and the possessions and accomplishments that count, and what kind of car you drive, or what kind of house you live in. No one looks into a persons heart anymore, they don't care about there sincerity or there feelings. Me being an empath, I can walk by a person, and tell their feelings inside, of what kind person they are,(non judgement) or if they are troubled or upset. My discernment level is off the scale, and I have changed for the worst, (broken heart) being hurt so bad, by so many people, including churches, yes I am humble, and yes I love all people, and yes I have forgiven them all, and hold no grudges, and yes I have been spit on, tormented, tortured, and I still keep struggling, for others, not for myself, but to be able to help others to know the truth. It doesn't even matter anymore, no one wants to listen, and no one cares. We as people should have the same mind and hearts towards our Creator, and to His Son, who came to take away our sins of the world, and to make us right with our Father in heaven. I mean who would do that; sacrifice his only Son to help a race that does not care about who created them in the first place. I pray and hope more people do come to the knowledge of the truth. Yes for a long time, I was a great Chef, one of the best in the country, and a culinary genius, that could put any food combination together and make it taste great. I made the most wonderful presentations, and each plate looked like a portrait, all different, and appealingly, so what. So I was a great ice carver. So I was on TV so many times, who cares? So my name was in the newspaper every week, so it was all for the "world," and now God has pulled me out of the world. Praise God! He will not let me work in another restaurant again. I used to walk into places with videos and newspaper clippings of my own places, and my own menus, and how I built restaurants for people that made millions, and what did I get, nothing. I catered to the rich, and the rich didn't care about the little people in the kitchen. At times I was going to give classes and teach people how to eat, and what to choose that would taste good, but who would listen. If they don't listen to the truth of the bible why would they listen to anything else? But they will read the newspaper and everything in it, and most of it is a lie, we are all being deceived, just like it says in the Word. We are all blinded by Satan, and people think this country has money, we don't, some people say the devil has been behine most of our country has been sold, and all the beauty and national parks and forests, are all sold to foreign countries. Is Satan behind all this? Are we living in the truth or a lie? We don't know what the devil will do next. Evil is behind all the broken hearts and lies, where is the truth? I have lived in almost every major city in the US, and in my life I have lived with, worked with, and stayed, and broke bread with over 50,000 different people, from every ethnic background you could believe, even a lot of the American Indians. I came to this town to be calm, spiritual, and build a church to help people, to teach and learn, and know the truth about Jesus Christ. We are His workmanship, to worship Him in spirit and in truth, well that can be anywhere, and it doesn't have to be on Sunday, and it is, supposed to be everyday. I can't even find anyone to even talk to anymore, who has done what I have, or thinks the way I do, or who has lived a life like mine. My childhood was so bad, that I never got married, and I don't no when I will. And I am fifty. Mostly all the women I ever dated with were those different wild wrong side of the tracks type, they were the only ones that had there thoughts together, or that could carry on a conversation that was interesting. And it is not like I let myself get run down, I have been pumping iron for 23 years, to keep myself in condition, mind, body, and spirit. At the gym here, I feel totally alone. I am out going, and I try to smile, I do have the Holy Spirit in me, and no one gives me even eye contact, it is not just here, it is a lot like that everywhere. One place I had to work out for a long time, before I knew anyone, and then I new over 200 people, and that became my ministry. People came up to me all the time and wanted my advice on all things. I've played concert Bass, in the church, I play the piano,and I have been playing the guitar for about 30 years, and I write Christian songs, and sing like a bird. I don't play the instruments anymore, I don't write anymore songs, and I don't even sing in a choir anymore. And I don't see any adds in the paper for musical talent, so that goes to waste, and I feel like I am sinning not using the gifts God has given to me, so what do I do? I wanted to have a music ministry, and a food serving ministry, and all the second hand shops will donate clothes, plus other things, so I can help the poor, so where is my building? I guess I am not patient enough. God wants my head in that bible, and he wants me in prayer with Him and that's it. We are coming to the end times and all the serious Christians are being tormented, I mean really tormented, we are being refined, and chipped away, and thrown in the fire to be purified, and then the end will come. The end is right at the door. I will not go to heaven if I have hate, or envy, or jealousy, or any of the other sins, known to man, we all have to be pure. But we still are all living in the flesh, and we all sin everyday, and we humbly ask the Lord for forgiveness.

I am praying, in this world we are living in we all need prayer, prayer is the most important thing known to man, it is a form of communication with our God and what a blessing it is.

“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.”(Prov. 4:20-22).

Our heart our feelings of love and desire dictates to a great extent how we live because some of us find time to do what we enjoy. Solomon tells us to guard our heart above all else, making sure we concentrate on those desires that will keep us on the right path. Make sure your affections push you in the right direction. Put boundaries on your desires: don’t go after everything you see. Look straight ahead, keep your eyes fixed on your goal, and don’t get sidetracked on detours that lead to sin.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Prov. 3:5-8)

Leaning has the sense of putting your whole weight on something, resting on and trusting in that person or thing. When we have an important decision to make, we sometimes feel that we can’t trust anyone in this day and age, that is just the way it is, people tend today to not even trust in God and that is a horrible thought, that is all we can trust, God is right there with us , even when we don’t see him or feel Him He is there right beside us, that is one of the things I have learned which I hope before I am gone I can in some way show to all of mankind that God is so real and He will never ever leave us and He is always with us. God knows what is best for us, so it might seam that He is not there or giving us the wrong type of discipline , but we have no right to even question or even judge God’s motives. He is a better judge of what we want, than even we think we want. God knows us more than we know ourselves. We must trust him completely in every choice we make. We should not neglect careful thinking or put down our God-given ability to reason; but we should not trust our own ideas to the removal of all others. We must not be wise in our own eyes. We should always be willing to listen to and be corrected by God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Bring your decisions to God in prayer; use the Bible as your guide; and then follow God’s leading. He will make your paths straight by both guiding and protecting you always, I have learned many lessons, and when I was a boy I did a lot of hitch-hiking and if I didn’t depend on the Lord at those times, my whole life could be different or I would not even be here to pray with you.

“The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:17-18)

We often wish we could escape troubles the pain of heartache, loss, unhappiness, and failure; or even the small daily frustrations that constantly wear us down, to me the daily frustrations become many anytime the enemy has a chance to drill another hole he does, and you know it hurts everyday, and being a man of logic and truth with perceptible reasoning, you begin to just let it roll over and don’t let it bother you, that was a big lesson I had to learn, some day when everything works out and I crack a smile or even laugh when I am by myself, I will know that the war is over, but the thing is if you work for God those daily frustrations don’t ever go away, and I am not going to stop working for God to stop the attacks, like I have said before 15,000 pastors a month give up there jobs, and that right there the numbers of that statistic is unbelievably high, but we have to look at what some of these people are facing, I could never give up on my work for the Lord, we are going to be rejoicing either here is this world or the one to come, at times I do get disappointed, and my feelings get hurt and at times I break down and cry, but that goes with the job. God promises to be “close to the brokenhearted,” to be our source of power, bravery, courage, understanding, and wisdom, helping us through our problems, and He does, there are so many things that go on that we do never even find out about, and some people just take those things for granted, I don’t try to, but I am human too, and I do have faults, but I do know the Lord is there, and Jesus is pleading our case at the same time the devil is saying horrible things against and about us, to God. Sometimes God chooses to deliver us from those problems, but His timing is always perfect, that is why there are a few scriptures that say “wait upon the Lord.” When trouble strikes, we can never get frustrated at God. Instead, we have to admit to the fact that we all need God’s help and we should be thanking Him, prayer with devotion and giving Him praise for being at our sides. What a God we serve, I have written back to so many prayer requests at times I wish I could just reach out to the people going through their troubles or hardships or pain or disease, and I myself am being one of the victims to spiritual warfare and the steady attacks from the enemy, satan doesn’t want me to pray for anyone, he knows and he has tried to take away the whole prayer ministry and the Church, but God Himself after a great test of faith after 2 months of compounded intimidation by the darkness of evil to take away the office and the house and the illusion that devil implanted into my mind was the church closing and the prayer ministry folding and me out on the streets pushing a shopping cart at the age of 51 and skinny and with know strength, suffering with my unknown affliction that I have been fighting for about 21 months, and I would have starved, not because I could not obtain any food but I had to be around a blender to drink all my nutrition because the pain is so over whelming that I can not chew. I would be in a big predicament. So God said no more!! He changed the minds of the people selling the establishment. So now I am banging the keys and bringing hope and the love of the Lord with faith throughout the world into your home through the computer. Praise God for the advancements of the technology and I can pray to anyone in the world and give them comfort, and at all times, I can be a friend or I can be a shoulder to cry on. What I want to share is we have so much to learn in this mortal life, the many trials we have to endure and many joys that could just be around the corner. We are all glad that each of us grows toward the grace and mind of Christ. We are all going at different speeds and this truly humbles us all, when things get over and what ever we are faced with the stress and the guilt of not trusting and not having strong enough faith does bring us to a humble point. We are all happy that we can give God the glory when we all get healed or the burdens stop, or the troubles end, or a marriage comes back together, or if someone gets a new job, the rewards are endless like the church office was saved and it seems each of our hearts have gained more light and more truth to battle our next attack or turmoil or what ever it may be, we can trust in the Lord to heal and end any burden or pain or turmoil. I wish I could just be there with you * and read some of the promises of the Lord. We know in the end times and they are so close the bible says:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2Tim.3:1-4)

Paul’s reference to the “last days” reveals his sense of urgency. The last days began after Jesus’ resurrection when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers at Pentecost. The “last days” will continue until Christ’s second coming. This means that we are living in the last days. So we should make the most of the time that God has given us, which I would say most of us do. I know I try to be a workman for the Lord, but my mother who is not a Christian would say you’re not making any money; she just doesn’t realize that working for God brings more assets then mere money. God Has always provided, when you live on faith and do the work of and evangelist pastor, prayer warrior it goes far beyond the reality of a man making 100K, but unsaved people just don’t understand, someday I will get to her and share the love of Christ, but she only listens to people that have more money then she does, that is how she judges people by what is in there wallet not what is in their heart. There are probably many more people that judge the same exact way. In many parts of the world today it is not especially difficult to be a Christian, but in other parts of the world people are getting beaten to death for just sharing Christ in the streets of China, if anyone saw the video, voice of Martyrs, but in most places people aren’t jailed for reading the Bible or executed for preaching Christ. But Paul’s descriptive list of behavior in the last days describes our society even, unfortunately, the behavior of many Christians. Check your life against Paul’s list. We can not give in to society’s pressures. Don’t settle for comfort without commitment. Stand up against evil by living as God would have his people live. And that is exactly what I do except hurting my own mother, she just would not listen or understand. She is blinded by the enemy like so many others even some Christians that say they are Christians. (2Cor. 4:4)

“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thes. 5:14-23)

Don’t hang out or around with the inactive; warn them. Don’t yell at the timid and weak; encourage and edify them and give them a bit of comfort. There are times it’s difficult to distinguish between the inactive and shy ones. Two people may be doing nothing one out of shear laziness and the other out of shyness or fear, of even going out in the world, or just afraid of doing something wrong and getting yelled at or just a dirty look hurts, that to me hurts more than someone just coming up to me and saying something nasty, but a dirty look it like strikes your heart like a knife and then you go throughout the day and say what did I do to that person, like I said before I deal in facts not fantasy, I have been around to many people to know what type of look a person is giving me, and you can’t say anything in return like what was that for, or what did I do, and most of time they would just deny it, or say what look. I am to familiar with the games people play, I have been around, and I just didn’t walk in from the cotton fields. The whole key to ministry and churches and feeding the poor, food banks, bake sales, prayer teams, and playing music for the praise and worship teams is “[sensitivity]”: sensing the condition of each person and offering the appropriate remedy for each situation. You can’t effectively help until you know the problem. You can’t apply the medicine until you know where the wound is. I wish everyone could understand, that one word “sensitivity.” Our joy, prayers, and thankfulness should not vary with our circumstances or feelings. Obeying these three commands be “joyful, pray continually, and give thanks” often goes against our natural learning. Some people just don’t do all three things all the time, it seems like it is not natural for some. When we make a conscious decision to do what God says, however, we will begin to see people in a new perspective. The thing is when we are doing the will of God and feeling good about it, we will find it easier to be joyful and thankful. We can’t spend 24 hours on our knees but we are always in acknowledgment with God we have a constant communication with small prayers and we are constantly seeking to have contact with God, letting God know we need Him and to obedient to His wishes plus realizing His presence, but we have our regular prayer times, and our prayer closet times, and with me I set aside every evening for prayer responses and I spend time writing out particular prayers and then I send what is appropriate to each person so in a way I can take care of any need or request, it does take time but the Holy Spirit writes the prayers and I just type them. The most important part of prayer is the thankfulness, we can’t thank God for everything that happens to us, but the thing is the major part is thanking Him “in” everything that happens to us. We also thank God even when the attacks come and we are constantly asking God for peace and we thank God when we do receive peace. We should always be as the people of Berea to be noble-minded and test everything with the word of God. (Acts 17:11) We should almost live on the word of God. (Matt. 4:4) “Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

We can not ridicule anyone especially if they are speaking the truth, we accept what people say on the outside but on the inside of our hearts we accept what is true and we reject what is false. We are not the type of people to stand there and argue with a person we either take them to the side and show them in scripture and explain to them your viewpoint and most of the time you come to a common ground. And you also know we can’t avoid every type of evil because this whole world is getting eviler by the day, we live in a sinful world, and it will be worse tomorrow, we just make sure that we don’t let evil get any type of strong hold around us or within even the conversation. We are Christians and we have to analyze many things and we have to be pleasant and accept what people say like I said on the outside. We don’t fall into temptations and we don’t do things to make God angry. Remember we are heaven bound and we are totally honoring our Lord. And we follow the Holy Spirit through faith with the gifts that we have. Christ is in our heart and He is at the controls. We can’t separate our spiritual lives with our flesh. And we just don’t worship and praise one day a week, being a Christian is a 24 hour a day way of life, with the spirit soul and body as the entire being of each person at one with the Father and the Son. Sorry I got carried away with this prayer, but my prayers are with you and I hope you will be blessed with the days ahead, God Bless, Rev. Paul www.thechurch-ministries.org

Father I thank you so much that the words that you give me to type brings light to so many others, Father I thank you for the words that You speak goes into my mind and I can hear the light of your Son speaking our words and we as one can help so many other human beings on this planet, I had know idea of your motive for me, I did not realize that a skinny unhealthy body could still help so many people in this world, and I don’t even know where to begin to thank You. You have made the word come alive and with power and being active and alive and so energizing and to the point of being effective. I thank you that you have made me worthy to speak from these words that You have given me to launch a breakthrough of healing, peace, contentment, happiness, joy, and to bring it to so many others in this world, I thought I was going to be handing out soup and bread but you found something far better and more rewarding for Your people, my face is on the ground in praise and I will thank You for the rest of eternity for what You have done. Now thanks be to God, who causes me to triumph through Christ our Lord. Dear Lord please give me the right words for these prayer requests tonight I need your help and it is getting late and I hope the evil one didn’t waste to much my time please Father which direction should I go? Show me the words that can open up these hearts. Help me, Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31:24) I am glad I can have complete confidence in you. (2Cor.7:16) "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt. 18:19-20) Jesus looked ahead to a new day when he would be present with his followers not in body, but through his Holy Spirit. In the body of believers (the church), the sincere agreement of two people is more powerful than the superficial agreement of thousands, because Christ’s Holy Spirit is with them. Two or more believers, filled with the Holy Spirit will pray according to God’s will, not their own; thus their requests will be granted. That is so heavy in itself, that if we both agree, even though we are thousands of miles away or right down the street we can together believe that our prayer will be answered.

"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” That is how I feel too, and I have even memorized this one and this is exactly what I want to do and feel. (Acts 20:24) We often feel that life is a failure unless we’re getting a lot out of it: recognition, fun, money, success. But Paul considered life worth nothing unless he used it for God’s work. Which I feel the same way, but now I have realized there are so many avenues to help people know the Lord. What he put into life was far more important than what he got out. Which is more important to you what you get out of life, or what you put into it? I enjoy helping and doing the work of the Lord . Persistence is a quality needed by anyone who wishes to do God’s work. Paul was a determined person, and the most important goal of his life was to tell others about Christ (Phil. 3:7-13). It is no wonder that Paul was the greatest missionary who ever lived. God is looking for more men and women who focus on that one great task God has given them to do. I feel at times the same way to preach the Christ and share His love and His resurrection and His saving grace; I mean what could be more important.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”(Acts 2:42-47) I have been looking for a group of people just like that in those same values and honor and loyalty and dedication, and I have been all over this country, maybe I need a time machine, the world has changed, everyone knows it a sincere heart with love and devotion to God and Jesus is a hard thing to find especially in big numbers, the Lord will show me the way. About 3,000 people became new believers when Peter preached the Good News about Christ. These new Christians were united with the other believers, taught by the apostles, and included in the prayer meetings and fellowship. New believers in Christ need to be in groups where they can learn God’s Word, pray, and mature in the faith. If you have just begun a relationship with Christ, seek out other believers for fellowship, prayer, and teaching. This is the way to grow. “Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection.” (2Cor.13:7-9) Just as parents want their children to grow into mature adults, so Paul wanted the Corinthians to grow into mature believers. As we share the gospel, our goal should be not merely to see others profess faith or begin attending church, but to see them become mature in their faith. Don’t set your sights too low. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”(Eph. 1:18-23) The hope we have is not a vague feeling that the future will be positive, but it is complete assurance of certain victory through God. This complete certainty comes to us through the Holy Spirit who is working in us. The world fears the power of the atom, yet we belong to the God of the universe who not only created that atomic power but also raised Jesus Christ from the dead. God’s incomparably great power is available to help you. There is nothing too difficult for him. Having been raised from the dead, Christ is now the head of the church, the ultimate authority over the world. Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, the One Israel longed for, the One who would set their broken world right. As Christians we can be confident that God has won the final victory and is in control of everything. We need not fear any dictator or nation, or even death or Satan himself. The contract has been signed and sealed; we are waiting just a short while for delivery. Paul says, in Romans (8:37-39), that nothing can separate us from God and his love. Only God’s power can change weak human beings into strong believers who are willing to sacrifice everything for the God who loves them. Christ has no equal and no rival. He is supreme over all other beings. These words ought to encourage believers, because the higher the honor of Christ, the Head, the higher the honor of his people. We have to notice how the early church believers prayed. First they praised God; then they told God their specific problem and asked for his help. They did not ask God to remove the problem, but to help them deal with it. This is a model for us to follow when we pray. We may ask God to remove our problems, and he may choose to do so. But we must recognize that often he will leave the problem in place and give us the strength and courage to deal with it. You see you my friend the early church had it together I ask God that somehow we could be like the early church, I have done enough reading, anyway I got carried away with another prayer, But I just want to say my prayers are with you and my heart cares about all your situations, I know God cares about me and I know God cares about you, so may the Lord always be with you and God Bless you, Rev. Paul www.thechurch-ministries.org