Regardless, God is with me and that is all that Matters!

The Gift of God's Presence with me in His Son is the best Gift I can have!

Isaiah 43:1-7 Israel’s Only Savior1 But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
 give Egypt for your ransom, Cush[a] and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

 The promises found in Scripture are not there for us to just claim, so that our quality of life would be better with material blessing, and or, relationship blessing in Marriage, with Family and Friends. As Bill Systma points our in Today's Devotional, "If you treat the Bible like little more than a list of promises, you can slip into thinking that life is supposed to be easy for Christians.For example, you might think that if you are having trouble in your marriage, God has a promise that will make your marriage better. If you are struggling financially, God has a promise that will make your bank account swell. All you have to do is pick and choose the verse that contains your favorite promise, and life will get better.The problem with that way of thinking is that the primary promises in the Bible are not that you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Instead God promises that he will be with you."

This way of thinking and treatment of the Bible puts God's Word under your feet as a spring board to pick and choose your demands to make your life easier.

But it is through hardship that we find the Blessing of God's presences and provision. As in the Book of Proverbs 30: 6-9:
"6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
7 “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

The promises of Scripture are not meant for us to use the Bible as a Faith pill to make everything all better in our life. Even Jesus did not know the Glory of His Resurrection, until He under went the glory of His Passion in His sufferings!

Isaiah 43, the prophet does not say that God will prevent fire and floods. Instead, God promises that he will be with us as we pass through fire and as floods overwhelm us. But for some, since the Greatness of God is so small in their minds, this promise of God being with us in His only begotten Son, is not enough; apart from Christ, we are wired to rebel against God and  demand of God what we think we need for our sufficiency, and in the end, we find out that our sufficiency is indeed, insufficient.

But to understand the Greatness of the Sovereignty of God in our lives, is to understand that the promise of God being with us, is all we will ever need to help us endure to the end; as we rest in the Sufficiency of  Christ Jesus' provision, we will discover His many blessings along the way of  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, Gentleness, faithfulness and Self-control! and Indeed blessings of His presence and full contentment and enjoyment of His life with us.

The problem with many people today, is their eyes are never satisfied with seeing nor their ears with hearing nor their the hands with touching; apart from the Sufficiency of Christ in our lives, we are always wanting.

But Let us remember that Jesus in His Great commission, promises that He will be with us even to the end of the age! He promises His sufficiency is all we will ever need to fulfill His Great commission and endure to the end! The Great Commission stated in Matthew 28:16-20:

"16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the"

We need to repent of the error of thinking that uses God's Word to claim promises of our own utopia of being healthy, wealthy and wise. Instead, come to the point in our lives that David did when He cried out in Psalm 23:1, " the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" Indeed the point to realize that the Lord is our Sufficiency, and apart from Him, we have no good thing! Psalm 16: 2"I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

I will be well content to pursue The Sufficiency of Jesus Christ unto my Salvation, The sufficiency of Jesus Christ found in His righteousness in my Sanctification and The Sufficiency of Jesus Christ found in my endurance unto Glorification is all I will ever need!Jesus, my Immanuel God with me! Isaiah 7:14  ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you^[c] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and^[d] will call him Immanuel

Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

How would we know the great power of God's Deliverance, unless we are brought low to our Helplessness! Psalm 3

How would we know the great power of God's Deliverance, unless we are brought low to our Helplessness!

Psalm 3 A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift[b] up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. 7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah

Until I am brought helpless and brought low and paralyzed by the enemies who surrounds me, I would not know the greatness of God's power to deliver me from my enemies.
To the details of my life God's Sovereign plan and will would reveal that my enemies surround me on every side; that I may seek the face of the Lord and behold His great deliverance on my behalf through His Holy and only begotten son! Otherwise, I would be either consumed by my enemies, or be overweening prideful that I would not seek the face of the Lord for my great deliverance and not rely on the face of my God and not rely on the name of the Lord for my Salvation. He put the obstacle there to the details of life that I may see His Sovereign plan and His great and mighty Act of deliverance to break the enemies stronghold and power that I may go free and dwell in safety and peace in the presence of the Lord! I would not know His deliverance Unless I was trapped, helpless and surrounded by the enemy to see my need for Him to deliver me!

In such circumstances, to the details of my Life, He brought me to see my need that I may seek His help And see His great power to deliver me.
In this thought, I do see Moses and ancient Israel before God split the Red Sea.

In This thought I see Jesus in His Death splitting the veil of the temple in two and open the way of access into the presence of God Mark 15 and I see His resurrection splitting the sea of death that I may walk through the valley of death and be resurrected unto Eternal life; because I am helpless to death and unable to cleanse myself of sin, I need His great shed blood to cleanse me and Adopt me into His Kingdom and establish me in a relationship with Him in the new covenant in His blood! Indeed the covenant if Grace.

Jesus My Sufficiency, Jesus My Supremacy!

Jesus My Sufficiency, Jesus My Supremacy!

Jesus is my all Sufficiency unto Salvation and the Cleansing of my sin in His blood and His righteousness applied in my life.

Colossians 1:14 “in whom we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins”

Jesus is my All Supremacy, unto the ruling of my heart and His applied righteousness in my life unto my Sanctification and Glorification!

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. “

With Every "NO!" In Temptation!

With Every "NO!" In Temptation!

Matthew 4:10

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’

Matthew 6:13"...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Every time we say NO! in temptation we are submitting ourselves to the authority of Christ, and learning obedience to Christ in every temptation and every NO! In temptation, we declare the Victory of the Cross in our lives; and with every “NO!” in temptation, follows the mortification of the Flesh “the Old Man,” “The sin nature.”; with Every “NO!” in temptation brings us closer to knowing the Sufferings of Christ on our behalf, the victories of Christ on our behalf, and a greater Knowledge of Knowing Jesus Christ in our life to a greater growth in maturity of Jesus Christ in our life to a greater knowledge of  the Supremacy of Christ and Sufficiency of Christ unto our Sanctification and glorification!

The Myth of Anger management! Colossians 3:8

Colossians 3:8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

2 Corinthians 10:1-6 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away! ² I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. ³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete

Anger Management is a contradiction in terms--you cannot manage Anger, nor can you manage sin, can you manage lust? Can you manage Covetousness? No! It is sin. You cannot manage sin in and of yourself. To say you are undergoing anger management is like saying that you are cuddling your anger and petting it and hugging it--no matter what you do, the anger is still there, and Sin will still remain.  The only way to conquer Anger--sin, Lust-sin, is to cut it out of your life. But you cannot cut it out, because you cannot get rid of your Sin. 

Here is how we can get rid of and cut it out and demolish strongholds by fighting with weapons that we have in The Grace of God, His divine power to demolish strongholds taking every thought captive to the obedient of Christ.

First, Captivate the thought and circumstance that fed the sinful nature of anger. Second, Confess in prayer the captivated thought of your sin by Acknowledging the Anger in your life when it arises. Third, Claim your position in Christ, by believing on Christ for Salvation, if you confess your sin, His is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9. Fourth, Cut it out of your life by repenting and turning from Anger and turning to dependence on Christ for His Righteous life to live through you. Fifth, Cultivate gentleness to replace anger, cultivate being filled with the Holy Spirit through the dependence on Him in prayer. Sixth, Confirm the power of the Holy Spirit, by Yielding yourself to the New Self, being renewed into the image and likeness of Christ through the Sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Great Vivifier, Convictor, Counselor and Comforter. Seventh, Conquer the old Self by mortifying the old self with it's corrupt nature. Put it to death!

Who Praises you from the Grave! Psalm 6:4-5

Who Praises you from the Grave!

Psalm 6:4-5 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?

The brevity of Life should compel one to live for the Lord now! To praise the Lord in this life now! To Trust in Christ for Salvation from your Sin and the Wrath of God Now! When you die, are dead and buried you cannot live for the Lord then, because you are Dead! There is no would of, Could of or Should of' to turn back and relive!

When you are Dead, you are Dead! There is no praising Jesus in the Grave! Behold! now is the Day of Salvation! Behold! O believer, now is the Day of repentance in your Sanctification! Now is the day to die to self and live for Christ! Now is the day to pray! Now is the day to Praise! Now is the day to give thanks! Now is the Day to Give thanks to God for your food every time you eat! Now is the day to Meditate on God's word and obey it in your life! Now is the Day to be proactive in obedience to Christ, there is no putting off! there is no time for procrastination! Now is the day to Repent and bow your knees before the Lord of Glory! who is the Lord of Glory? Jesus might in battle He is the Lord of Glory! Now is the day to seize every opportunity for the Glory of the Lord! Now is the day to de-throne self and repent of the worship of self and the worship of others! Now is the Day to Worship the Lord you God and worship Him alone! Now is the day to be Christ-centric and not Self-centric! Now is the Day to prepare, plan and Pray for the glory of Christ in your life, today! Now is the Day to Rest in the Sufficiency of Christ unto life, practice, Sound Doctrine and Eternal life. Now is the Day to Rest in the Sovereignty of God sustaining the whole universe! Now is the day to Praise our Great God and Savior!