What Does The Word Say?

The book of Esther is such a beautiful story that depicts the favor and grace of God. The king loved Esther, and he delighted in bestowing his favor and grace upon her. This all began after she was prepared and then taken to the king. He took one look at her beauty, poise and elegance, fell in love and chose her as queen in place of Vashti. That story has many elements, but focus on the fact that Esther was taken into the presence of the king. In the New Testament we find that we don't have to be taken into the presence of God our King. He calls believers to come. The awesome thing about this is that He already knows everything about you. He knows the good, bad and ugly, yet, He beseeches His children to come into His presence. Look at what the Bible says about this in Hebrews 4:15-16. "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto ...

After serving the Lord for some time, there are some verses in the Bible that become quite familiar. For instance, Psalm 1:1-3, Psalm 23, John 3:16 and Romans 12:1-2 are verses in the Bible that most believers are aware of and can quote, but they have become so familiar, that they have lost the meaning and are not lived out. One of the marks of a mature Christian is the ability to be able to read and or hear something multiple times and still hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying. In other words, no matter how many times you read the logos Word, you should have an ear to hear a rhema Word. This is important because if this principle is not put into practice, it opens the door for pride and a stagnation of growth. Pride will read a verse like Romans 8:28-29 with a view of, "I know what it says." Yet, when the Spirit of the Lord comes in to bring revelation that person can't hear that God is not interested in bringing you good things. No, the "good" in t...

There are many lessons taught from the Bible that when they are heard, they are always relevant. Two of those lessons are offense and love. Offense because the Bible says in Luke 17:1 "...“ It is impossible that no offenses should come..." This is a fundamental teaching, yet believers struggle with overcoming offenses. The other, which is love, is always relevant because one of the ways to overcome offense is through love. Today, let's look at this timeless message of love. 1 Corinthians 12:31 says, "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." The "more excellent way" in this verse is love. It is love that overcomes offenses and enables us to live in such a way that God will always be glorified. It is love that is at the fiber of all sonship (mature, kingdom minded) relationships with the heart set upon pleasing the Father and fulfilling His kingdom purposes. Since love is the more excellent way, first and ...

What a title! I know you are encouraged already, especially if you have had a run of challenging things happening in your life. Your heart rate has increased and you have received an answer to your, "When will all this be over?" questions. Well, before you get too excited, you should continue reading. Breakthrough is on the way, but not as you suppose. The backdrop for this teaching is found in 2 Chronicles 20. A great multitude had come against Jehoshaphat. As a result, the Bible says in verses two and three, "And Jehoshaphat feared, and set -- himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek -- the Lord." There are situations, seasons and circumstances that come up against every believer that sometimes causes fear to rise up. Depending on the depth of the relationship with the Lord, some Christians don't seek the Lord...

We just got back from vacation in Cabo. We made some great memories and had a good time. However, several things went left on us that made us wonder what was really going on. God was so faithful and spoke to my heart through the entire vacation, "Count it all joy." I learned that this is the stuff you count it all joy through so that God still gets the glory even through the bad. The Bible gives other instruction on how to get through the things that go left in life. It says in Philippians 3:13-14, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Notice the instruction in this verse. It says, "forgetting those things which are behind..." In order to go forward in God you must forget some things. What things? The fact that your year planned vacation had ...

In 2010, I preached a message entitled H.A.T.S to the Glory of God. The acronym stands for health, appearance, temperament and security. The text for the message was in 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." In essence, the message was teaching that our health, appearance, temperament and security should all give glory to God. I want to talk about the appearance portion of this acronym. We live in a day and time where the ungodly fashion trends of society have infiltrated the church. Everything from women dressing like men, to wearing bikini's on beaches, all in the name of self expression have become common place among Christian women with no conviction. This is unfortunate and gives the enemies of God great occasion to blaspheme the name of the Lord. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 gives the blueprint for fashion among Christian women. It says, "in like manner also, that the women adorn themselve...

As pastors, my husband and I are very passionate about preaching; namely preaching against sin. This doesn't always go over very well; especially when dealing with an individual about a particular sin. Let me say though, that the sins we deal with, many times are not necessarily big. They are the little character issues of the heart when dealt with that cause deep hurt, offense and the catalyst to send people out the door. This gets very perplexing, but when my mind tries to go places it doesn't need to be, I hear the Spirit of God reminding me that people come and people go. You keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and choose to walk in love and forgiveness. Whenever, I hear these words, I say, Yes Lord. I will walk in love and forgiveness. This is not always an easy task, this love and forgiveness business. Yet, I have found that the task is less difficult when my heart and mind are fixed on being obedient to the Lord; rather than giving in to the dictates of my flesh. You see,...