Seek First The Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

    The Born-Again Christian life is a joyful life.   John 15:5 “I am the vine, you  are  the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.   Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence  is  fullness of joy; At Your right hand  are  pleasures forevermore.   Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.     If we understand these 3 verses we will never, ever have a joy problem.  Starting with John 15:5 if we are abiding in Jesus than we are abiding in His presence thus we are abiding in the fullness of joy, Psalm 16:11. If Jesus is abiding in us than The Holy Spirit is abiding in us and if the The Holy Spirit is abiding in us His fruit is being produc...

  Report from 2 nd   Trip to Ireland Part 4 Monday thru Thursday morning I stayed in Westport.  I was able to take part in the morning prayer meetings that take place at Castlebar Christian Fellowship on Monday and Wednesday.  On Tuesday I met with the Pastor of Castlebar Christian Fellowship, Cathal Duffy, for lunch and a personal tour of Westport House.  Pastor Cathal used to work at Westport house when he was growing up in Westport.  He also shared with me how he came to Christ back in the 70’s and how the Christian church got started in Westport. Very powerful testimony.  During my stay in Westport, I was able to meet and speak with many people who worked in the stores.  I was able to give out some tracts and pray with a few of them as well. On my final night in Westport, I attend Amazing Grace Fellowship’s midweek Bible study which was held in the home of Mark and Rose. Their living room was packed with people as we s...

  Report from 2 nd   Trip to Ireland Part 3   Friday, I stayed in Kildare Town because it would be close to a gathering that started back in January at a place called the Cowhouse which is in Inchaquire, co. Kildare. On my journey there and back the roads are VERY rural and in one section the sheep have no fences.   One of the people I got to see again was Peter who introduced me to an answer to prayer, her name is Lorain. Lorain is a wonderful answer to prayer for Peter.  A woman who is joyful and loves the Lord. Peter and Lorain got engaged a few days later.  After sharing a meal together, we sang a few songs together.  I was asked to share my testimony of why I came to Ireland.  With the treat of severe storms moving into the area we then moved into a time of prayer for one another.  Saturday was a very busy day. I drove an hour 15 minutes drove to Meath Christian Centre for Outreach Ireland meeting before their outreac...

  More Faith in Amazon???   Most everyone who is reading this has at one time or another ordered something from Amazon.  Many of you order frequently enough that you even have Amazon Prime which gives you access to free two-day shipping on thousands of items.  What a wonderful thing to sit at home, your place of work or anywhere you have internet service and purchase just about anything.   I wonder how many of you have ever wondered how much faith it takes to do this?  Faith? What does faith have to do with ordering from Amazon, you might ask?  Let’s look at the facts.  You are purchasing something based on a picture on your computer.  Unlike shopping in a store like mine, you pay for the item before you actually see it in person and that days to a week or more in advance.  At the time of purchase you believe that your item will be delivered within the delivery window they give you even if they hav...

  Report from second trip to Ireland Part 2 Monday December 2-Thursday December 5.   After having breakfast and prayer walking in Athlone I traveled to Birr to meet with Pastor John Bulfin and his wonderful wife Arja. The pastor the New Life Church in Birr, County Offaly which is a church plant out of Oasis Christian Fellowship, Roscrea.  I first went to Pastor John’s home, which is working on renovating. It was built in the 1600’s and has been in his family since the 1800’s and here people back home think I live in an old home because it was built in 1890’s.  (Our “old” homes in America are new construction compared to homes like John’s.)  We talked about the joys and challenges of planting and pastor a small church. They then fed me a wonderful supper of Pumkin and vegetable soup, lamb and potatoes.  As I was waiting for John to change for the bible study we were going to that night Arja, who is originally shared with me how she and John met....

  You can’t give what you don’t have. Acts3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” At the beginning of Mark 16:17 it says And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will and the of the signs listed in the next verse it says lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. It doesn’t say that they will pray, beg God to heal and wish that they will be healed. It says that those who believe in Jesus name will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. That’s what Peter and John had, faith in what Jesus said, and that is what they gave and the man was healed. Acts 3:7 we see the proof of their faith. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. The man received healing not based upon his faith but the faith that Peter and John had in Jesus and Jesus name. Look at what Peter tells the religious ...

  Mentor   In looking up the definition of this word there is no definition for Mentor in the Noah Webster 1828 dictionary.  I found this very interesting.  It leads me to believe this word is something that has developed since that time.  Thus, the importance is more on what this word means and represents more so than the word itself because the meaning has been around longer that the word itself in our context.  As I explored the meaning of what mentor means I found that the word itself was actually the name of the friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus' son Telemachus.  I found this knowledge very enlightening.  I believe that it shows the character traits necessary of a mentor.  Friendship/relationship, trust, experience, knowledge and ability to pass that knowledge and experience on. To be a true mentor, I believe, one must have all of these characteristics.   In looking at the...

  Report From second Ireland trip.     Arrived in Ireland on time and very blessed.  The Lord provided me access to an airport lounge for my layover in Washington DC and for a row by myself to stretch out on the plane flight over.  Superfast pick up of the rental car and off I went to Castledaly.    Castledaly is a wonderful retreat/summer camp facility.  There was actually another retreat going on the same time as Outreach Ireland’s retreat.  The European Christian Mission and I the great privilege of meeting and speaking with Jonathan McCracken who is a church planter currently planting a church in Claremorris, Ireland.  Being that church planting is a passion of mine and part of my calling/mission this was indeed a divine appointment.  I was able to exchange contact information and am hoping to build relationship with him. Outreach Ireland’s retreat was a Holy Spirit filled time of connection, relati...

  Insert your name.   (The seed of this was planted by something I heard Isaac Ball say)   Take a moment with me and meditate on this fragment Acts 4:8, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said”.   What happens here in Acts 4:8-12 is exactly what Jesus promised would happen in Luke 12:11-12 “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  12  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” Now here’s the beautiful thing, this isn’t just limited to Peter or those who lived in the 1 st  century.  The Holy Spirit is still filling and teaching, those who will allow Him, today.  We can, and should, look at Acts 4:8 as a put your name here.  Then Philip, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, Then Kurt, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, Then Chris, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, Then Heat...

  Do we have big enough expectations?   How do you define hope?  Do you define it as most of the world has come to define it which is basically wishing?  Actually, hope is to have an expectation for something or that something will happen and this is especially true in a Biblical context.  Take a look at the following verses and every time you read hope say expectation.     Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.    Romans 15:12-13 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”  13  Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evi...

  Where is the Lord God of Elijah?   2 Kings 2:14 Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.   In this verse Elisha gives us an example of what we need to do when we are in doubt.  That is that we are to take action.   Elisha had asked for a double portion of the Spirit that was on Elijah and Elijah had told him that if Elisha saw him be taken it would be his.  Elisha saw but obviously he still had some doubt hence the question “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”.  Even with doubt, though, Elisha took action. He struck the water with the mantle just as he had seen Elijah do. The water parted, not because of what Elisha said, because those were words of doubt, but by the act of faith that he did.   The power that doubts c...

  1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,  7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.   As we read these verses, we see that one of the ways that we humble ourselves is by casting ALL, our care upon Him.    For a clearer understanding the definition of all is- Every one, or the whole number of particulars. The whole quantity, extent, duration, amount, quality, or degree; as, all the wheat; all the land; all the year; all the strength. This word signifies then, the whole or entire thing, or all the parts or particulars which compose it. It is so important to remember that there is NOTHING too big for God but also there is NOTHING to small form God either.  We need to be giving it all to Him.  Every and anything that we could possibly care about in any degree we need to cast on Him.  It is a lack of h...

  Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence  is  fullness of joy; At Your right hand  are  pleasures forevermore.   James 4:1 Where do wars and fights  come  from among you? Do  they  not  come  from your  desires for  pleasure that war in your members?   This morning Psalm 16:11 came up during a prayer meeting I attend through Zoom.  As we were praying for those countries that are at war the Holy Spirit brought James 4:1 to my mind.  What He showed me was that we war and fight with one another from our desire for earthly pleasures that will not last while God has pleasures that are forevermore that we can have in His presence.  His presence that everyone who is born again can have right now.  Pleasures that are not based upon our circumstances or abilities. Pleasures that we don’t have to earn or take from someone else. Why, because the...

  I can do nothing   One of the biggest traps and lies that I can fall into is thinking that I am enough and that I can do it or handle it.  This statement may seem to be wrong by many because of the self-empowerment slogans we hear from all around us is that tell us how we are enough, we can do it and we have the power. What we fail to see is that if we are enough and we have to power to do it then we have the ultimate responsibility for accomplishing everything in our lives. It doesn’t take living very long to realize that this is a lie.  There are things that come up in life that we don’t have the intelligence, talent, ability, power, or finances to handle.  Seriously if we are enough to handle it we would never fail.  Yet the truth, and comfort, is found in the last part of John 15:5 John 15:5 b. “for without Me you can do nothing.” Jesus statement here isn’t a narcissistic, ego driven put down. He is stating a fact and one that brings me grea...

  Grace and Faith, Death and Life.  These really must be taken as pairs for if we only focus on one half of the pair we miss out on some very important things and we wind up in a ditch.     For us each half of the pair is dependent upon the other half.  Grace does US no good without faith, and what good is faith to us without grace?  Since the fall there is no life without death and to obtain life there has to be a death.  Sounds crazy right? Grace is manifested in Jesus dying on the cross for sin past, present and future? Correct?  This means all sin was forgiven at the cross from the beginning of time till the end of time. Correct?  So then why are there people in hell now and why are there people who are and will still go to hell and who will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death, to exist for eternity? Did God’s grace not apply for them?   The problem wasn’t God’s grace the problem was...