God Speaks I Listen

Mark 1:17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Jesus called witnessing to people who need salvation fishing. Sometime I feel the fish are not biting these days. I think the people have heard it all before and over the years they have seen some very negative things about our leaders in the news. Fishing is a little more challenging but I think we can get a plan together. Here is a little joke with an idea:

Get it?……..go diving after them? I don’t think we should necessarily dive on them but I think we can be wiser in our approach and always follow the Holy Spirits lead. The Holy Spirit is the one who directs us to people when we are available to the Lord. We must be ready at all times and under any circumstance…..whether you are a patient in the hospital, on your job or shopping in a store.

Be prepared. A fisherman never goes out without something to catch fish. Have a bible, tracts any kind of materials. You can carry something small in a wallet or handbag. If you have nothing on you because of a very brief encounter with someone you can still be prepared in knowing Gods word in your mind and heart and by knowing how to witness to someone.

We all may not be the greatest fisherman but we can all fish. Like the joke above we may have to go after some fish by being where the fish are….get you fishing radar on. Be aware of where you are and who’s around you. Jesus will make that fish notice you. Start conversations with folks. Make comments like…boy it’s a hot one today…put the worm on the hook.

Jesus wants us to do this if we are His followers…..but be wise….pray for wisdom…..pray for discernment….pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you….and again be prepared.

The light in you and your actions, morals, and integrity are always in full view of others so act accordingly at all times. Remember you are living a holy and sanctified life and it is a witness of the work God has done in your life. Make sure you are spiritually clean because nobody will talk to a stinky dirty fisherman. We are ambassadors for Jesus Christ.

Message for today: Go out and do some fishing……is there a prize for your catch?….sure is….Jesus has the rewards and I heard it’s great!

John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

You do not need a commentary here to get the meaning of this scripture verse. Jesus was talking to His disciples when He was here on earth and made a statement to them or better yet a command and said…..if you love me then do what I ask you to do and follow my commands. The very first word of this statement really gives me the chills….IF! Jesus of course knew that they loved them…but when I hear that “ if”…it makes my brain say….you know you love Him so do what He says do.

They were men and just took it without questioning Jesus, but if I were there I would have whined to Jesus and said “ Jesus you know I love you…why did you say if Jesus…Jesus I really do love you….Jesus don’t you know that because you’re God…Jesus…Jesus.

Jesus probably would have thrown His hands up and shouted..…”oy vey!!!” All kidding aside there is a purpose for the if. The if is attached to the command….keep my commands…..our love for Jesus should inspire us to want to obey Him. There are so many scriptures in the bible that tell us to be obedient to God’s word. (I’m no bible teacher here…just a blogger…you know the drill …do your own study LOL)

It seems to be very important to the Lord that we follow the commandments that God has laid out for us. It’s not for God’s benefit so He can keep us all in line…but it’s for our benefit ……we will be more like Jesus…..we will lead a holy sanctified life. This is God’s plan and purpose for us. We will please God IF we keep the commandments. Others will see Jesus in us and that will make us available for the Holy Spirit to use us to be a witness. Again IF we love Jesus…and we know we do.

You know people don’t like that word obey anymore…kids don’t want to obey their parents…people don’t want to obey the law of the land i.e. driving and texting, stopping at a red light etc. And in this generation women have even removed the word obey from their marriage vows.

Well I will tell you with 100% certainty that obey will not be taken out of the bible…ever! So we better get with Jesus program and keep His commands. Now Jesus is not forcing us to do this……we are doing it why?…….You got it….because WE LOVE HIM!

Many years ago I had a job at Macy’s and I followed and obeyed the commands of that job….not because I loved Macy’s, but because I loved getting paid. That was my motivation. My motivation for obeying Jesus is …because I love Him. I pray this is your motivation too.

Now about loving Jesus…..we are so thankful to Him for His sacrifice on the cross…but have we gotten to really know our brother…our best friend. How can you love someone very deeply and be motivated to obey their every command? There are three ways to accomplish this…..bible study, worship and prayer. The ability to connect with these things is through the power of the Holy Spirit. When you spend time in these things daily you can’t help but love Jesus madly. Even trials help us get closer to the Lord.

I have a challenge for you today……I want you to tell Jesus as often as you can today how much you love Him…..pretend you hear Him whispering in your ear saying….Do you love me …Do you love me _______(fill in your name here). Meditate on these scripture verses: John 15:9-11 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Our love for Jesus must steadily grow and that comes from building a relationship with Jesus, loving Him so much that you break out your alabaster box and pour your precious oil of love and praise on Him. The result of you doing this will be your heart wanting to always obey His commands. God because He is God can never love us more because He already loves us perfectly 100% always and forever. We are mortals so we have to constantly nurture our love by fellowshipping and worshipping with the Lord. Constant interaction is necessary for any relationship we have whether it be marriage, friendship, or family.

Message for today: The more you love Jesus…the more you will want to obey His commands.

This morning … Gods Speaks I Listen….and share with you.
In God’s service….Tanya

Have courage my children, have courage. These have been difficult days for many and I have heard all of your prayers, cries, and moans and have seen your tears. I have seen many who are worried, anxious, and I’ve also seen those who have put their trust in me.

Many people are very angry with me; some don’t understand and ask why. A few of you have even predicted my Son’s return and some say everything is Ok, have faith and stay positive.

Everything that you need to know is written in my word. My word is perfect and when you read it, believe it, and receive it in your heart it will do what I intended it to do for you. It is healing, correcting, cleansing, directing, forth telling, convicting…..it can lead you to peace of mind, security in essentials of living, healing…..and it can tell you how much I love you and want the best for you.

Please don’t try to understand everything that I do or have to know why for everything. I will at times reveal things, but I need you to trust me. Every morning I’m there with my new mercies for you and my grace is always always there to help you get through all you have to endure. I am there….I am there. I have made it so easy for you to connect with me at all times. There is not one second of the day or night that you cannot talk to me and be with me. Not one thing you ever say to me is ignored. You are my children and I am your Father and I know how to take care of you.

I am in you; my Holy Spirit came and took up residence in you when you accepted my Son. When you abide in me your conscience mind has all the spiritual strength you need to make it through any test, trial or just to be with me in fellowship.

Yes many things are happening around you and even in your house wholes, but I need for you to do something …..Keep your eyes on me……Yahweh…..I Am the Creator of all things and I have, can and will take care of you! Don’t ever doubt my love for you and my ability to protect you. Keep my word with you at all times…..study it….meditate on it…..it will give you peace and it will help you with the stress and anxiety.

This is a race in which you are not without help or direction. You have a coach, egging you on…..water to refresh you and I will be there at the finish line to give you the prize…eternal life….. As I have said in the beginning of my message…. Have courage my children….have courage…..I love you…..

Lord of Host

Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Facebook…facebook…that’s all you hear about these days. Everybody has a facebook account including me. I use facebook to see my adult children and grandchild’s picture. I also have my blog posted on there too. It does have its benefits. At first I didn’t want to join facebook…it just wasn’t that important to me…but my children made me sign up so I crumbled under the pressure and have joined 750,000,000 million followers.

I also joined My Space and Twitter but I can only handle one network at a time…I’m doing all I can to keep up with my facebook page…making sure I’ve got my privacy settings in place and all….”Cuz I don’t want everybody all up in my bit-nez”….can I get an amen? LOL. What’s so important about one of the most well known social networks?…… It’s nice to reconnect with old friends…..you get invited to events…..and …well….but….it doesn’t really add much extra to my life or overall well being. Enough about this man-made phenomenon….let me tell you about another social network called……bookoflife_heaven.com…owner of this site…..God….purchase with the blood of the Lamb.

The Book of Life contains the names of those who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. This means that you believed the true crucifiction story as told in the bible.  You repented of your sins because of this truth you heard, read and believed. You have been sanctified (cleaned and was made right before God) by the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus shed His blood on the cross at Calvary to remove your sin and your name is now written in this precious book with the names of other people who have done the same thing. You will live in heaven with God and the others forever!  It’s the biggest blessing that you can ever receive in your life….ever! Thank you Jesus! Halleluiah!

Now for the hard facts…..If you don’t join this heavenly holy social network you will not get into heaven. This is difficult news and it’s not my idea but it’s a fact that’s in God’s word. Everyone is going to live forever…but where? The two places of permanent residence are heaven or hell. People don’t like to deal with these hard facts these days and times….but the bible doesn’t ever change. If we are Christians then we must follow what God Himself has given us in His word. This scripture is what God says:

Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

If you want to join the network of believers today just use the sidebar and write me and I will direct you how to sign up…..or you can…..repent, believe and accept Jesus Christ ….you can talk to God yourself today…..right now in fact.
For those of you who have already joined the bookoflife_heaven.com family…….see you there!!!

Message for today: Facebook is ok……Lambsbook of life is great…..better benefits in joining.

I want to take this time to thank all those who follow my blog. Many of you write me on the sidebar and I’m so encouraged by your prayers and kind words for me to keep going forward with the blog. I pray for you all the time and care about you so much. I will continue to write as God directs me to and gives me the strength and skill. May the Lord bless you all and keep you steadfast in Him.

John 17:17, 19 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. . 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

This morning when the Lord said to write my blog on sanctification I said…..”Lord you want me write on what?”…..and He confirmed it to me so here goes…….

Sanctification is the relationship we now have with God when we made that wonderful decision to repent of our sin and believed in Jesus Christ and in the sacrifice He made for us by dying on the cross. At that moment our relationship to God changed and we were made clean and were separated from the world and our sinful nature was changed to live a holy and clean life before our gracious God. Our faith in Christ has sanctified us. We now need to live a holy sanctified life.

1 Peter 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
We must now live a holy separated life pleasing to the Lord. I love God so much and I always want to please Him and one of the many ways to please God is to live holy. We need to separate ourselves from this world…..our mind, spirit and soul need to be consumed with God and His affairs.

Now for one of my Tanya explanations on the matter of sanctification. I have birthed 5 babies and was in the delivery room watching from a different view when my sister delivered one of my nieces so I know a lot about birthing babies. When babies are born all though they are so cute, when they enter the world they are very….well…a total mess. They have all kinds of stuff stuck all over them…trust me…you don’t want me to get too descriptive here. And then they get cleaned and they now are so cute and smell so fresh. But if you don’t continually clean them those babies will start to stink and they can get very dirty and messy all over again.

We were like the new babies when we first got cleaned from our original sin (Adam and Eve…you know the apple thing). We were so dirty like when we were separated from our mothers so we could be washed clean….We were separated from God and Jesus death on the cross made us clean so we were holy enough to be put in that mothers arms which is God Himself. We are now in the loving arms of our Holy Father but……..like a child can go out and play and can get dirty again so……John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth…. The bible is sharper than a two edged sword so this will clean us up. The truth will set you free so you can be clean.

Romans 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit to instructs and teach us the right things to do and the right way to live ….a separated life unto our God. When we get dirty by being out in the world and the pull it has to draw us into it, so we can get cleaned again with the knowledge of God’s word and help from the Holy Spirit.

Our separated lives will also be a witness to those who have not accepted Christ yet. If we live a sanctified life they will see Christ in us and want Jesus for themselves. Jesus did this while He was on earth and we should live like He did….a holy life acceptable to God. Jesus set the perfect example of sanctification.

Now this was a deep topic today but it needs to be addressed often because people are saying it’s hard to spot the Christians today because we are acting so much like the world. There are three remedies for this. Read the word, stay in prayer and obey the Holy Spirit.

Being holy takes some work and sacrifice on our part in obedience to the scriptures…we may have to give up some things (TV,facebook, etc.) and we may have to add some things (prayer, bible study).

As I get older I’m grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for me and I want so much to please Him and I know I’m on the right path to leading a Holy life….I want to see Jesus…I want God to call me a faithful servant….I will be 59 in two weeks and I know my days are numbered and I getting closer to seeing God and when that time comes I want to be as pure and holy as I can be. I have had a life threaten situation and at that moment all I could think about was being clean before God…it was instinct. We need to have this instinct every minute of everyday…we should want to be in a continual state of sanctification.

Start today…ask God to forgive you of any sins you may have committed, do some bible study every day, fellowship with other Christians at a local church regularly, and my favorite thing is to pray… talk to God, and lastly obey the Holy Spirit when He speaks to you. The Holy Spirit will remind you the truth of the God’s word…..it’s all up to you…do you want to live a holy life?…do you want to please God?

Massage for today: Sanctification is for today…..now ….this minute….2011….The New Testaments declaration for us to live a Holy/sanctified life may have been written hundreds of years ago (about 70 years after Christ death on the cross) but the bible is the living word of God and has attached itself to each generation so it is relevant for today and very much needed today. Let’s live sanctified lives and please God. Let’s draw men to see God because of the holiness they see in us. Let’s turn this world upside down. Can I get an Amen?

1 Samuel 17:41-44  Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

A boogie man is a story we may have heard as kids. It was an imaginary monster that a child would say was scaring them. Other kids would say the boogie man is going to get you. Many children…like me…thought they were hiding under the bed or in their room. There was no actual description of the boogie man until 1934. Our first look at the scary creature was in the Old movie from 1934 Babes in Toyland… also known as… March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel & Hardy. That movie scared me until adulthood LOL.

Is there something in your life that is scaring you like the boogie man? Maybe a problem you’ve been dealing with, an illness, your boss, a troubled marriage, losing your house, a mean teacher in school, whatever it is that is your boogie man.

In the scripture above the boogie man of that day was a Philistine named Goliath who was a giant. Goliath was real, very scary and He terrorized the whole community. (1Sam 17:24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.) If the bible says great fear it means they were scared out of their minds. Is there a situation that is terrorizing you today? Let’s do something about that right now….don’t go another minute with this terror. You are going to kick your boogie man to the curb! As a matter of fact David ran right up to Goliath (vs.48 …As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.) You know you really have to be with the Lord to do something like that LOL.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

All this protection and help can be yours if…. the Lord is with you…if you are not with the Lord….the boogie man can get ya’! Hey I’m just being honest and truthful with you here. In order for the Lord to fight your battles you must first have a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

There are great advantages to belonging to the family of God like when you are facing giants (aka boogie men) the Lord will fight your battle and you will get victory over the enemy. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. All you have to do is 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Psalms 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

These are antiboogie man scriptures meaning: give all your troubles to the Lord because He is your keeper. Be committed to Him and trust what He can do for you because Jesus has conquered this world …….so be encouraged!!

Message for today: You don’t have to scared of the boogie man when you know The Man….named JESUS!! What about Jesus? (wink..previous blog) It’s good to know Him…it’s good to know the Lord!

When I first heard Oprah make this statement…. I have to admit it was quite surprising to me. She’s had Christian artist on her show many times and has often talked about God. I assumed her beliefs were …Jesus is the only way to God… until I heard her say “what about Jesus?” I would like to personally extend an invitation to Oprah to come to my home and sit down with my husband and me to talk…calmly(you know these kind of talks can get folks dandruff up)… to explain the “what”.

Oprah’s own words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eODlrxD0EM&feature=fvst

What was surprising to me was her beliefs that there are other paths to God.  She also stated that God is jealous(her meaning is that this is a negative thing).  Whoopi Goldlberg has also made this statement(quoted this scripture) on the view. Many people share their same views and thoughts. People have the right to have their own thoughts whether I agree with it or not, just like I have my own free will to have my beliefs. I personally disagree with their statements because I follow the teachings of the bible and because understanding the bible takes more than just knowing or reading scripture. It takes careful study and knowing the culture that was going on when it was written and understanding in what context the entire chapter was written in. You also have to explore the historical evidence and the language of that time in history. Even then it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to make God’s word alive to you.

What about Jesus? There is so much I can say and so many scriptures that can be given….but again this is a blog of some thoughts and prayers. I do want to give three scriptures though:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(NIV)

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.(NIV)

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is bornagain.”

My first conscience of a higher power was what my parents taught me. I learned a lot in Sunday school. When I was a child I would talk to God and write Him letters. Then one day when I was around 11 years old I did something wrong and knew I would get in trouble with my parents. I prayed so hard and asked God for a miracle which was to not let me get in big trouble. I knew for a fact how my parents would react. They didn’t!! I knew it was God and that was the beginning of me realizing God was real.

When I was about 12 I was watching the Billy Graham program on TV one day and I remember crying when he made the invitation to accept Jesus Christ and that day I invited Him in my life. I know I felt it that day. I continued serving God at a young age in church, but by the time I was an adult I did my own thing and stopped going to church.

Then one day when I was 32 years old I received a flyer in my fence from a local church and it was questioning where I was going to spend eternity. I called the number….a pastor came and visited me and my husband….invited us to church and prayed with us. We went and both of us totally committed our lives to the Lord. The power of Jesus washed us clean and we were 2 new people. Everyone saw the difference in us. We felt so good, happy, peaceful, renewed. Pain from our past was removed and our hearts were healed.

We dedicated our lives in service to Him and we have never stopped. Since then I have had many supernatural things happen in my life including me being healed from cancer, 4 of my children surviving premature births and months in intensive care, my son being born having cerebral palsy and me being told he would never walk or talk and he walked on the stage to get his college degree.

So when I hear the statement…what about Jesus?….my personal reaction is…..Oh my Lord God!!!!……Thank you for your Son!!!!…….Jesus is….Da’ Bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!! This reaction is just me….my joyful heart 🙂

In other words….He is real to me and what the bible says  about Him is true. For those who don’t believe in any of this…….there is only one way for you to find out……seek God and ask Him to speak to you about Jesus. Have a bible in your hand and turn to the book of John and start reading with an open mind to receive the knowledge from the living word of God and you will find your answers. Believe in faith what has just been revealed to you and you will understand the mysteries of the gospel. It’s your choice to do or not do.

Message for today: It’s so hard to have a message for today because this is a very hard topic to try to discuss. Think about the motives around the whole story of Jesus. God’s motives are for our good. That is a good thing. The gospel Of Jesus Christ is good news. I feel and know it’s good…great…fantastic news…but I want to be sensitive to those that don’t understand it and are searching for truth, and even those who are angry at the perceived attitude of some of us Christians. I do truly care about you! It took a lot to write this blog today.

There is only one way to God and to understand this…You must understand who God really is.  Please keep seeking for answers.  Your very life depends on it.

Philippians 3:13,14  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul was a great man of God and had achieved great gains for the kingdom of God in his life. He had no time to look back and ponder over the losses or gains because He had his eyes on bigger and better things. His goal was to get to the next level in the Lord toward the ultimate goal of being at last with the Savior and all that the Lord had in store for him. Paul was keepin’ it movin’!! It is never good to keep looking back if you’re trying to move forward. Look what happened to Lots wife when she looked back.

Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

I can’t imagine why she would look back…..Maybe she was just really nosey and couldn’t help herself. I know one thing if God told me not to look back knowing how He did things back in the Old Testament I would have high tailed it out of there real fast and left everyone in the wind. God don’t play!! (smile)

I have to give Paul a pat on the back because he had seen so much and accomplished so a lot for the Lord and could have though he was all that and a bag of chips ( the purpose of the thorn in the side)…..he could have thought….well I did my job for kingdom building so now I can sit back and chill out…….but no….Paul felt he hadn’t gotten to that ultimate place in God……he knew he had to keep in movin’. Then Paul gives us the best piece advice I believe all Christians should always strive to do……Forget all the past things you have already accomplished for the kingdom and keep your mind on the things God still has for you to do. We must keep it movin’ and press on.

We also can’t keep looking back at the negative things in our past because they too will be hindrances’. There might have been more you could have done or you could have been more effective if you could have done this or that. Should of, could of, would of…..what will it get you to think like that?  These types of thoughts will cause you to stumble. Keep it movin’.

My children are grown now and I have been doing a lot of thinking back on how I raised them. I believe they have grown up to be wonderful people…..but I can’t help thinking about things I could have done differently like for instance…..I wish I had taught them to cook more. I did most…well all of the cooking. They liked my food so much and I was happy to serve them and I also thought it was easier to keep the kitchen clean if I did all the cooking…but….they really didn’t learn a lot about cooking. But Now I think….well that’s why they have cookbooks and now internet cooking sights and youtube demonstration videos are for…LOL I’m keepin’ it movin’!!!

So folks…let’s keep it movin’ and keep our eye on the prize which is our eternal destiny with all the rewards that God has for us with the ultimate one being Himself.

Message for today: Keep your eyes and your heart on the prize….Don’t look back and….keep it movin’ people…keep it movin’ people.